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Given By
Coir^fiittee ot Un-Aiaerican Activities
^
INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE
COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
V
^ HEARINGS
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
EIGHTY-THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
JUNE 17 AND 18, 1953
Printed for the use of the Committee on Un-American Activities
INCLUDING INDEX
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1''
35663 WASHINGTON : 1953 j ^
\
^^5
.3^
^ f
COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
United States House of Repeesentatives
HAROLD H. VBLDE, Illinois, Chairman
^RD W. KEARNEY, New York FRANCIS E. WALTER, Pennsylvania^
:^D L. JACKSON, California MORGAN M. MOULDER, Missouri
jARDY, Michigan CLYDE DOYLE, California
>N H. SCHERER, Ohio JAMES B. FRAZIER, JR., Tennessee
Robert L. Kunzig, Counsel
Frank S. Tavenner, Jr., Counsel
LOUIS J. Russell, ChieJ Investigator
Thomas W. Beale, Sr., Chief Cleric
Raphael I. Nixon, Director of Research
I
;^'
CONTENTS
June 17, 1953, testimony of — Page
Bella V. Dodd 1741
Nerval Neil Luxon 1777
Barbara Ann Darling 1783
Byron Thorwell Darling 1795
June 18, 1953, testimon.y of —
Byron Thorwell Darling (resumed) 1799
Flora Webster 1823
Bereniece ("Toby") Baldwin 1829
Appendix 1837
Index 1839
III
PUBLIC LAW 601, 79TH CONGRESS
The legislation under which the House Committee on Un-American
Activities operates is Public Law 601, 79th Congress [1946], chapter
753, 2d session, which provides :
Be it enacted bij the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, * * *
PART 2— RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Rtile X
SEC. 121. STANDING COMMITTEES
*******
17. Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine members.
RuxE XI
POWEES AND DUTIES OP COMMITTEES
(q) (1) Committee on Un-American Activities.
(A) Un-American activities.
(2) Tlie Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or by subcommit-
tee, is authorized to make from time to time investigations of (i) the extent,
character, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States,
(ii) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American propa-
ganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and
attaclis the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitu-
tion, and (iii) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress
in any necessary remedial legislation.
The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House (or to the
Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) the results of any such investi-
gation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable.
For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Un-American
Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such
times and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting,
has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance
of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and
to take such testimony, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued under
the signature of the ctiairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any
member designated by any such chairman, and may be served by any person
designated by any such chairman or member.
RULES ADOPTED BY THE 83d CONGRESS
House Resolution 5, January 3, 1953
M * * * if * *
Rule X
STANDING COMMITTEES
1. There shall be elected by the House, at the commencement of each Con-
gress, following standing committees :
* * * * * « *
(q) Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine members.
*******
Rule XI
POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES
17. Committee on Un-American Activities.
(a) Un-American Activities.
(b) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or by subcommittee,
is authorized to make from time to time, investigations of (1) the extent, char-
acter, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States,
<2) the diffiusion within the United States of subversive and un-American propa-
ganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and
attacks the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitu-
tion, and (3) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in
any necessary remedial legislation.
The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House (or to the
Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) the results of any such investi-
gation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable.
For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Un-American
Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such times
and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting, has
recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance
of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and
to take such testimony, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued xmder
the signature of the chairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any
member designated by such chairman, and may be served by any person desig-
nated by any such chairman or member.
VI
INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE
COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
wednesday, june 17, 1953
United States House of Representatives,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American Activities,
Colwmbus^ Ohio.
PUBLIC hearing
The subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American Activities met,
pursuant to call, at 10 : 15 a. m., in hearing room 2, State Office Build-
ing, Columbus, Ohio; Hon. Gordon H. Scherer (acting chairman)
presiding.
Committee members present : Representatives Gordon H. Scherer,
Kit Clardy, and Francis E. Walter.
Staff members present: Robert L. Kunzig, counsel; Donald T.
Appell, investigator; and Thomas W. Beale, Sr., chief clerk.
Sergeant at arms : Claude Woodward.
Present as invited guest-observers: Hon. Samuel Devine, member
of the Ohio Legislature and chairman of the Ohio Commission on
Un-American Activities; and Sidney Isaacs, counsel for the Ohio
Commission on Un-American Activities.
Mr. Scherer. The committee will be in session.
Let the record show that the Honorable Harold H. Velde, chairman
of the House Committee on Un-American Activities of the United
States Congress has appointed the Honorable Kit Clardy of Michigan,
the Honorable Francis E. Walter of Pennsylvania, and Gordon
Scherer of Ohio as a subcommittee to conduct these hearings in Co-
lumbus, Ohio, on June 17, 1953.
Let the record show that all members of that subcommittee are
present.
In the future when the word "committee" is used, it shall refer to
this subcommittee as far as the record is concerned.
Also present are Mr. Robert L. Kunzig, counsel for the committee,
Mr. Donald T. Appell, investigator, and Mr. Thomas W. Beale, Sr.,
the chief clerk of the committee.
At this time, the chairman appoints Mr. Claude Woodward as
sergeant at arms for these hearings and the sergeant at arms shall
have the right to appoint such assistant sergeants at arms as he may
deem necessary.
The record will also show that the committee has invited as guest-
observer at this hearing, the Honorable Samuel Devine, member of
the Ohio Legislature and chairman of the Ohio Commission on Un-
American Activities, and the counsel of that committee and director
of that committee, Mr. Sidney Isaacs.
1739
1740 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
At the opening of these hearings of the House Committee on Un-
American Activities of the Congress of the United States, it seems
proper and it might be helpful if the purpose and activity of the
committee is restated.
The committee is charged by law with investigating the extent,
character and object of un-American activities in the United States.
It is charged with investigating the diffusion in the United States
of subversive and un-American propaganda that is instigated from
foreign countries or is of a domestic origin, and attacks the principle
and form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution.
The reason such duties are placed upon the committee is to aid the
Congress in determining whether or not remedial legislation is neces-
sary with respect to these activities and to help enlighten the Ameri-
can people with reference thereto.
Since our country is presently engaged in both a hot and cold war
with Communist dominated countries, this committee of the 83rd
Congress is primarily devoting its attention and work to investigat-
ing and revealing the Communist conspiracy in this country. It has
been fully established in testimony before congressional committees
and before the highest courts of our land that the Communist Party
of the United States is part of national conspiracy which is being
used as a tool or weapon by a foreign power to promote its own for-
eign policy and which has for its object the overthrow of the govern-
ments of all non-Communist countries, resorting to the use of force
and violence if necessary.
The program for world domination has been clearly set forth by
the leaders of the Kremlin conspiracy. All who read may know the
means and methods by which this objective of world domination is
contemplated to be brought about.
The official publications of the Communist conspiracy tell in minute
detail of a new method of conquest, a new method of warfare, never
attempted by those men or nations that sought world domination.
The Communist conspiracy provides for the infiltration of every
phase and field of American life. Communist objectives are to create
strife between labor and management and within the labor group it-
self, to cause people to be suspicious and distrustful of the Govern-
ment and the law enforcement agencies thereof, to make them dis-
satisfied with the American way of life, particularly its economic sys-
tem, to create doubts concerning their religious teachings, to set class
against class, minorities against majorities, and even minorities
against minorities when it suits their purpose.
It is a process of attempting to soften and weaken the American
people and its institutions so that when the time comes to move in,
the task will be so much easier to accomplish. This is not theory. The
Soviet Union has brought behind the Iron Curtain 600 million people
since 1933 by the use of these methods. Of course, such a conspiracy
can act only through individuals. These individuals must promote
the Communist program in the various American institutions with
which they are identified since they cannot act in a vacuum. We find
them active in the labor movement, in industry, in Government, in
our educational institutions, in the entertainment field, and I am sorry
to say, in some instances in the field of religion.
The committee is not investigating these institutions. As an ex-
ample, this committee as such has no interest in the labor movement
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1741
or in labor's problems with management, or in labor's own inner con-
flicts. It has no interest as such in the personnel that teach in our
schools or colleges, nor in the curriculum or type of textbooks used
therein. . These are matters that lie solely within the province of
the administrators of our educational institutions.
We are engaged, however, in throwing light upon the nefarious and
subtle activities of those individuals who are promoting the Com-
munist conspiracy so that the average American may know them and
recognize the activities and propaganda of a foreign power when he
comes in contact with it, either in the shop, in school, in church, or in
any other phase of everyday life.
Now, some persons say that the Communist menace is being exag-
gerated. However, within the last 60 days, J. Edgar Hoover, head of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, testified under oath before the
Appropriations Committee of the Congress. He said the Communists
today are infiltrating every field of American activity, namely, civil
rights, youth and veterans' groups, press, radio, television, motion pic-
ture, political organizations, schools, and colleges.
He further testified that espionage rings are working more intensely
than ever before in the history of the United States. Remember this
is the testimony of Mr. Hoover within the last 60 days.
There ai^e those who argue that communism is only a political belief
or a philosophy. It certainly is not a political party as we know
political parties in this country. That is a misnomer.
It is a conspiracy dominated by a foreign power. True it is that
the philosophy of communism appears to be an attractive philosophy.
Christianity teaches the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of
God. Communism purports to teach the brotherhood of man without
God. However, the ideological phase of communism is used only to
ensnare the masses. Behind it lies the age-old lust for power and
domination by evil men.
Mr. Counsel, is your first witness ready ?
Mr. KuNziG. The first witness is Dr. Bella Dodd. Please step
forward. Dr. Dodd.
Mr. ScHERER. Will you raise your right hand. Doctor ?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you shall give to this sub-
committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you God ?
Dr. Dodd. I do.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, are you accompanied by an attorney?
TESTIMONY OF BELLA V. DODD
Dr. Dodd. I am not.
Mr. KuNZTG. You understand, of course, your rights to have an at-
torney here ? The committee encourages anyone to have an attorney
with them if they so wish. I take it that you
Dr. Dodd. My attorney was unable to be here today and I decided to
come alone.
Mr. KuNziG. You are perfectly willing to testify without an at-
torney ?
Dr. Dodd. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Will you give your full name please, for the record?
Dr. Dodd. Bella V. Dodd.
1742 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. KuNZiG. What is voiir present address ?
Dr. DoDD. 100 West 42d Street, New York City.
Mr. KuNziG. Your profession ?
Dr. DoDD. Attorne3\
Mr. KuNziG. Would you <rive tlie committee a resume of your educa-
tional background. Dr. Dodd'^
Dr. DoDD. I went to the public schools. I went to public ele-
mentary and high schools and attended Hunter College, one of the
public colleges in New York, from which I received my bachelor of
arts degree. I did my master's work and worked toward the doctorate
in political science at Columbia from which I received a master of arts
degree.
Mr. KuNziG. In what year did you receive that degree ?
Dr. DoDD. In 1927. I received doctor of jurisprudence degree from
New York University and was admitted to the New York bar in 1931.
Mr. KuNziG. And that ends your formal education in schools ?
Dr. DoDD. Yes, sir.
Mr. KuNziG. I know you have had a lot more since then.
Dr. Dodd, would you give the committee, for the record, a resume
of your employment background, your occupation ?
Dr. Dodd. Well, I taught in the New York public schools and
high schools for several months after graduating from college. I
graduated from college in 1925, and in 1926 I was called back to
Hunter College to teach in their political science and economics de-
partment, and I taught there from 1926 to 1938.
In 1938, I resigned from my job as instructor at Hunter College,
and decided to go into the labor movement. I became an organizer
and legislative representative of the New York Teacher's Union. It
was a local union of the American Federation of Teachers.
Thereafter I organized the New York Federation of Teachers and
became its organizer and continued with the teachers' movement until
1943 at which time I joined the Communist Party as an official member
with a card.
At that time, I became a legislative representative of the Communist
Party of the New York district. I resigned from my position as legis-
lative representative of the Communist Party in 1946 and went back
into the practice of law. I have been practicing law since then.
Mr. KuNziG. Would you tell the committee, please, what offices in
the Communist Party you held, if any?
Dr. Dodd. Well, I worked with the Communist Party from 1932 to
1943 in various capacities, but not known as a Communist. I did
not carry a card. As a matter of fact, the Communist Party made it
very emphatic that professional people engaged in public service who
had public jobs were not to be exposed and were not to be card-
carrying members. I was not even a ]iart of a cell, but I worked with
them in the trade-union movement since my union was an A. F. of L.
union at the time. I served as part of the fraction in that union for
the purpose of moving it in the direction of the Communist Party.
After the Teheran Conference and Yalta Conference, we were
told the United States and the Soviet Union were going forward
to a hundred years of peace.
Mr, KuNziG. Would you continue?
Dr. Dodd. We were discussing my party activities.
Mr. KuNziG. Yes.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES EST THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1743
Dr. DoDD. In 1943, when the theory of the party was tliat we were
going into a period of mutual coexistence between the capitalist
world and Connnunist world, we were told there would be peace for
a hundred years to come between the two worlds, and each would
learn from the other. At that time, I w\as approached by Gil Green,
State chairman of the Communist Party.
Mr. Clardy. In what State ?
Dr. DoDD. New York State. He approached me at a State hear-
ing on the budget where I was representing my union at the budg-
etary hearings. He asked whether I would join the party and become
its legislative representative. Simon Gerson, their representative
at tliat time, was going into the Army. I said I would.
I became the legislative representative in lOii and continued until
1946. I became a member of the State committee of the Communist
Party. I became a member of the State secretariat consisting of
three people, wdiich met day by day to decide what was to be done.
I became a member of the national committee of the Communist
Party from 1944 to 1948. I remained a member of the State Com-
munist Party of New York, 1944-48. I was expelled from the Com-
munist Party publicly after much harassment in 1949; June 19, 1949.
Mr. ScHEREE. I am going to have to interrupt.
It is, of course, very important that the press hear every word.
They continue to indicate to me that they can't hear in the place they
are seated. We will have to remedy that condition.
Mr. Clardy. Mr. Chairman, I have a suggestion. Let's move them
in fi'ont and perhaps they can hear.
We will take time out for that.
Mr. ScHERFJ}. We will take a short recess.
(Short recess.)
Mr. ScHERER. Tlie committee will be in session.
You may proceed, Mr. Counsel.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd. due to the difficulties of acoustics, we have
been requested, if you wouldn't mind, if you would kindly answer
tlie last question again and give in detail your party offices and your
position in the party through the years.
Mr. Walter. Before doing that, Mr. Counsel, Mr. Chairman, I
would like to ask a question of Dr. Dodd.
You have testified that you were instructed, as were other members
of the professional group, not to carry your Communist Party card.
Was that a uniform rule in existence tliroughout the United States or
only in New York ?
Dr. Dodd. It w^as a uniform rule throughout the United States that
professional people were to be protected. In many cases, they did
not receive cards. If they were in very high and important posi-
tions, such as Government positions or civil service, no cards were
issued. Cards were held by the secretaries, various membership
secretaries, and they were held under a first name or a pseudonym. A.
card might be held under the name of "\^niitey, or Blackey, or Eed, or
Mar}'-, or Jane, or Nancy.
Mr. Walter. Then there is no significance to the fact that some
people regarding whom we have evidence of being card-carrying
Communists didn't actually have cards issued ?
Dr. Dodd. There was no significance whatever when it came to
people important in the civil service or the professions.
1744 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. Clardt. Carrying a card wasn't an essential part of the busi-
ness of being a Communist ?
Dr. DoDD. It was not.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, would you go again, please, through the
party offices you held ?
Dr. DoDD. I became associated with the Communist Party in 1932,
when I first began to cooperate with the party. By 1936, I was not
only cooperating with the party, but I was under discipline. By
that, I mean I attended various fraction meetings of the various or-
ganizations to which I belonged. For instance, I was a delegate to
the Central Trades and Labor Council for the American Federation
of Labor in New York. I was a delegate to the State Federation of
Labor conventions practically all of those years, and I attended the
Communist fraction meetings for the American Federation of Labor.
I was a member of the Teachers' Union and leader of the Teachers'
Union, and attended its fraction meetings of the executive board and
various parts of the Teachers' Union.
By 1943, 1 was still a representative of my union. At that time, the
party asked whether I wouldn't come forward publicly and become
a member of the Communist Party, and an officer of the Communist
Party.
Many of their men were going into the world war, and Si Gerson,
whose place I took as legislative representative, was going into the
Army. At that time, I was sold the idea that there would be mutual
coexistence between the Communists and the western world. There
would be a period of a hundred years of peace between the two differ-
ent ideologies, and what was needed in this country was an antidote
to Eed baiting. Since I believed the Communists at that time were
going ahead with improving the conditions of the world, I said I
would do it.
Mr. Clardt. You mean that was the party line at that time ?
Dr. Dodd. That is correct. That was the party line, and became
the party line of many of the liberals of this country and much of
the Government of this country. We received that kind of informa-
tion from the party and also from Washington.
In 1943, since I believed the things which they said they stood for,
I said I would be willing to serve as legislative representative. I be-
came the legislative repersentative. I became a member of the State
committee, and I was appointed as a member of the secretariat of the
New York State party. There were three members of the secretariat.
That was the group that met every day to decide what should be done
by the State party. The secretariat served between meetings of the
State board and the State board served between meetings of the State
committee.
In 1944, 1 became a member of the national committee of the Com-
munist Party. I attended the national convention of 1944, and be-
came a member of the national committee.
In the spring of 1945, when the tremendous change in the party
line took place because of the Duclos letter sent from France to the
United States which said we American Communists had better stop
playing the democracy game, stop working so closely with the liberals
and democrats and get back to the job of preparing for revolution,
at that time, I was a delegate to the convention in 1945. I was elected
again to the national committee, and remained on the national com-
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1745
mittee until 1948, when the new convention, of course, failed to elect
me, because I had gotten into difficulties with the party in the interim.
Mr. Clardt. Dr. Dodd, I would like to take up one little point that
you mentioned in the middle of your last answer. You talked about
fraction meetings within the A. F. of L. In order to correct any mis-
apprehensions, you are not trying to say, of course, that the A. F. of L.
was a Communist group; would you correct that further?
Dr. DoDD. By no means. None of the big organizations in which
they function may be Communist. For instance, within the A. F. of L.
the few Communists who were in there were strongly organized, and
this is tlie secret of the Communist movement: Centralization and
organization.
You might have five delegates to the American Federation of Labor
convention who were Communists, but they met in advance, decided
what they were going to do in advance, discussed among themselves
what they could accomplish at that convention, and they, at least,
would be armecl and would get something out of that convention
when the others might not know what they were driving at.
Of course, they would always set the objectives as limited objectives.
For instance, they would ask that some resolution on war or peace
be passed, depending on what the Soviet policy was.
Take, for instance, the women's club. I was a member of the
women's committee and the committee on education and youth and^
labor. It was our function to get into all the women's organizations
we possibly could. I don't say many of the women's clubs are Com-
munist, of course they are not, but the Communists within those
women's organizations function as a centralized unit, prepared in
advance, coached in advance by the party leaders as to what their
objectives, what their aims were, and what they could get out of these
organizations.
That is the secret of their success, the fact that they are prepared
in advance, have been coached in advance.
Mr. Walter. Doctor, before you go further, can you give us the
names of the New York State secretariat of the Communist Party?
Dr. Dodd. At the time I functioned, Gil Green, wdio is now no
longer in the United States, Israel Amter, and myself.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, I think the committee would be most inter-
ested in hearing how you became a Communist; the events and the
things that happened in your life that led to your becoming an active
Communist.
Dr. Dodd. Well, I daresay that many of the people going through
the same experiences that I went through might not have become
Communists ; many did not. Whatever weaknesses there were within
me that made me a Communist, as I look back, these are the things
which conditioned me.
My people were immigrants in this country. I was the youngest
in a family of 10. The struggle for a living was a hard struggle.
Our family lost touch with the culture of Europe and didn't become
absorbed into the culture of the United States. We lived in a great,
big city, where it was a question of dog eat dog, and the devil take
the hindmost. Our family stopped going to church and having any
connection with the church, which is an important part of its cultural
background.
1746 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS DHIO, AREA
We children, of course, went to the pul)lic schoo.5. I liappened to
be a briglit child. I was encouraged to develop my mind to a great
extent, and we had a great deal of pride in the fact that we could
solve all the problems by the use of our minds. We tended to forget
the M'hole question of the spiritual side based on the accumulated
wisdom of western civilization.
In our public schools, by and large, they do not have, or did not
haA'e at that time, any real central ideal on which they were based,
or central philosophy on whicli they were based. It was' a question of
acquiring facts and skills. You acquired a lot of information, but
you had no standard by which to judge these facts.
I was a warm-hearted kind of person ; my heart, like many Ameri-
cans, went out to the underdog. In the early lOoO's, the family had
grown up, and I had the opportunity to g'o to Europe. I visited
Italy and Germany. I was appalled by the growth of fascism in
Italy and more distressed over what was happening in Germany. On
the campus in Germany, I saw young men fighting with fists, guns,
rocks, and so forth and so on.
I came back to the United States a firm and confirmed anti-Fascist.
I was determined that that thing would not touch my country, the
people I knew. When I got back, Ave were deep in the depression.
Immediately after I got back, the banks closed. I stood on 42d Street
.and watched the Bowery Savings Bank close and watched the line of
people scared stiff as to what was going to happen to them.
I was an easy person to approach. Nobody else approached me at
that time, but the Communists were on my doorstep with the question,
"We hear you are an anti-Fascist. Will you join the committee?"
I Avas the kind of person who felt if you believed in something
strongly, you had to act. I was an anti-Fascist. They asked me to
join a committee. I did. I did not know how they were functioning.
The committee I joined was the Anti-Fascist Literature Committee.
My job was to write leaflets against fascism, make speeches against
fascism, and raise money for the underground movement.
I was approached by a women named Harriett Silverman — dead
now ; may her soul rest in peace — she was an international operative
for the Soviet Union. I didn't know that until after she died.
I was taken to Earl Browder in 1032 in order to check the fact that
the money was being raised by a legitimate organization. Mr. Brow-
der didn't do anything, shook hands and said, "I am glad you are go-
ing to fight against fascism." That is all.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you know at that time Avho Mr. Browder was?
Dr. DoDD. Yes, I knew he was chairman of the Communist Party.
At that time, I didn't care about labels. I used to say, ''If these
people are against fascism, I am Avith them," just as. thereafter, I
Avas, for instance, brought into a campaign to introduce legislation on
social security, back in 1932, 1933, the fact that they Avere Com-
munists didn't bother me. I felt that these things Avere right, and I
AA'ould join them, and I think that is the Avay millions of AmeiMcaus
are sucked into suj^porting Communist projects because the thing
which is shown to them is that Avhich seems to be good, or
Mr. KuNZTO. Even those peo]')le Avho are not Conununists, but Avho
are sucked into and actually su])port Avhat the Conununists are after?
Dr. DoDi). Yes; the Communist suiipoit seems to be large because
people are sucked into things Avhich seem to be good in themselves.
COMJVIUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1747
They don't recognize that tlie Communist Party uses these slogans,
these generalizations, in order to break down their resistance, and
ultimately they are tied in with the Communist movement.
Some were against discrimination. We are against repression,
against war, against fascism, and the Communist Party takes our
best instincts and uses them against us by twisting us into a program
which they want us to follow.
Take, for instance, the whole question of antifascism. The Com-
munist Party in tliis country set itself up as the one organization that
was fighting fascism. Very few other organizations gave them a
battle for that, and so the Americans got to feeling, "These are the
anti-Fascists."
We only learn now, after reading the documents captured by the
American soldiers in Germany, that throughout the time the Com-
munists were calling themselves "anti-Fascists," they were working
with the German high brass while Hitler was in power. They were
meeting to decide on the diA'ision of Europe. When Molotov said the
Soviet-Nazi pact was written in blood, he didn't mean the blood of
the Soviet Union, but he meant in the blood of the Polish people,
of the Czechoslovakia!! people.
I didn't know then what I ki!ow !ioav, for ii!stance. In 1935, 1 stood
on the platfor!n at Hu!!ter College; I was an instructor then.
Mr. ScHERER. What college?
Dr. DoDD. Hunter- College. I was teaching at Plunter College
from 1926 to 1938. In 1935, I stood up before the faculty, and the
st!!de!!ts, and !!!ade a speech which I will i!ever forget. It was e!ititled,
"Fascis!n Means War." I was going on the assumption that the
Fascists aiid Co!!i!!ii!nists were two difFere!it things. I didi!'t know
then what I know !!ow, that every drop of crude oil used by the
Fascists in Italy to drop bombs on Abyssinia was sold to them by the
Soviet U!!io!i.
Well, they took the anti-Fascist slogan and made themselves the
protagonists of antifascism.
They did the sa!!ie tl!i!!g with the word "de!nocracy." It became
very difficult to oppose the!T! becai!se they posed everything in terms
of the word "democracy." That was during the Workl War II period.
Now they are on a "Soviet peace propaganda" campaig!i. They say,
"If you are agai!!st the Co!n!nunists, you are for war." That is abso-
lutely untrue, because just as antifascism of the Comiiiunists led to
fascism, so the whole peace progra!!i of the Soviet Union, if you are
realistic about it, will inevitably lead to war. We have to have our
owi! peace prograi!!. It has to be an A!nerican peace progra!n.
Mr. KuNziG. You described to us, the!!, how you yourself beca!Tie
a inember of the Co!n!!iunist Party. I would like to bring up one
point. You mentioned a Gil Green. Is that the same Gil Green now
a fugitive from justice after conviction uiider the S!!iith Act?
Dr. DoDD. Yes. Mr. Kunzig, !nay I add one thing about becoming
a Co!ni!iu!iist ? Oi!e doesn't become a Coniiiiunist overnight by get-
ting a card. You beco!!ie a Com!nunist over a long period of time
by acting with them little by little until you find yourself so en-
i!iesl!ed that you have lost your other connections with society except
that group which operates in secret and operates together aiid estab-
lishes a co!nraderie which is a part of the fascination of the movement.
1748 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. Clardt. Your getting out of the party is more or less a reversal
of the process by which you go in. You come out slowly as you
awaken to these things ?
Dr. DoDD. It takes just as long a time to come out of the party as
it does to get in. It is much more painful. Getting in, you are
somewhat excited because you are going into something secret and
active, but getting out is a disillusioning process because you have
nothing else to hold onto. You have no other standard of belief.
You have no other standard by which to judge all activities, you find
yourself out in a world of nothingness. That is why it is difficult for
people to pull out. They have lost contact with friends and families,
and move only within a restricted circle.
Pulling out, also, is painful because you are punished. The kind of
punishment which the Communists mete out to the person trying to
get out of the party is a terrific thing. There are hundreds of
Americans who are in the Communist Party who would like to be
out of it, but they are so entrapped they are afraid to get out. They
are afraid of being anti-Communist and they remain in the party
and shrivel up and become nothing.
Mr. Walter. That I understand with uneducated people, but I
can't understand it as it applies to people such as you or other profes-
sional people. They have their professions and their ability to analyze
facts, truths, and it would certainly seem to me that if it takes them
a long while, they are wondering whether or not they want to get out
or ought to get out.
Dr. DoDD. Well, Congressman Walter, communism is a way of life.
It is a whole philosophy of being. If you believe in communism, then
everything you do, you do with this philosophy. If once you lose
that philosophy, you have to rethink your every single act and every
statement you make. Where shall you stand on this question if you
don't have a barometer by which to live ?
Unfortunately, unless one has a religious background and a tre-
mendous devotion and understanding of American history and the
American system of Government, one is left floundering because one
doesn't know where to go. The Communists make it very hard for
you to get out.
First of all, they punish you. In 1946, when I tried to walk out of
the Communist Party, Bill Norman, then secretary of the party in
New York, said, "Dodd, nobody gets out of the party. We throw
you out, but you don't get out by yourself."
Then you are told that everyone who gets out will ultimately dis-
integrate and become nothing but a stool pigeon. That is a hard word
to live with. It is a hard word to live with.
Mr, Walter. Now, just at that point — and I think that dramatizes
exactly what I am talking about — you as an educated person know
that this appellation applies to somebody who is talking about a
political philosophy, an illegal act. You know you were doing what
you were because of perfectly pure motives, so that when the threat
is made to cliarge you w^ith being a stool pigeon, why wouldn't you
just dismiss that from your mind because you know that it isn't true?
Dr. DoDD. You see, the newspapers, magazine articles (the party
has tremendous influence with them) continue to use these words
about "ex-Communists." They will use the regular words which we
apply to the underworld, question of "stool pigeon," "rats," the per-
son who "sings," and so forth and so on.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1749
It becomes an emotional thing, and not an intellectual process. In-
tellectually, the reason I made the break was because I felt I was in
the wrong pew, and I had to find the way out, and I received a great
deal of help from some very wonderful Americans who were filled
with the spirit of charity, but not every one has people available to
extend the hand to them and say, "Look, come on over," and what we
need to do is to extend the hancl of charity, to extend the hand of in-
telligence to people entrapped in this situation and say to them, "Look,
nothing is going to happen to you. If you did it out of good motives,
out of generosity, come on out and take your place in society." We
try to do that in New York City in the school system.
We have said to the school teachers, '*If you were in the party and
are out now, nothing will be said publicly."
I am here to testify to this committee that as far as I know, no one
in New York City has been hurt by the fact that he was in the party
if he went to the superintendent and said, "I was a member. I am no
longer."
His or her name hasn't been mentioned publicly. The people who
got notoriety are those who asked for it by refusing to answer the
question.
Mr. Walter. That is largely attributable to the fact that those
people are subconsciously, at least, willing to participate in a con-
spiracy to overthrow this Government?
Dr. DoDD. I think that is the first thing that the Communist begins
to accept, and you may ask, Congressman Walter, how does an in-
telligent person accept that?
Well, they divide your loyalty to the "country" from loyalty to
the "people." They say, "We are the greatest Aniericans there are.
We believe in supporting the people."
Who are the people? They are for the class society — for the pro-
letariat. They say, "The working class makes up 98 percent of the
people. Therefore, we, in our desire to protect the people, are the
greatest democrats that there are."
But they forget-
Mr. Walter. That is a small "d," of course ?
Dr. DoDD. Yes ; they forget to tell you that as far as they are con-
cerned, before they are through taking power, they will kill off large
sections of the working class if it doesn't go along with their program.
This is the thing which brought me back to my senses, the fact that
they are ruthless, ruthless not only to people in different classes but
ruthless to the workers themselves.
For instance, they say they have nothing to do with the people who
are in the bourgeoisie or the owners of industry. Therefore, that
class is out. Then the professional people or the middle class, the
newspaper men, the writers, the doctors, the lawyers, those people are
looked upon as expendable also because they are regarded as an un-
stable class.
Then you come down to the proletariat, the working class, and those
who don't go along with the Communist theory are also expendable, so
you find it is a program for the selected few who will go along with
the self-appointed Communist Party, and the Communist Party is a
group of self-appointed people.
35663—53 2
1750 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, you were talking about the teachers of New
York and the fact that nothing happened to those who assisted and
worked with the school board and those who got out of the party. You
talked about those who took the fifth amendment or refused to answer
as the ones getting the notoriety. Do you have any observations,
from your own experiences, knowing these people personally, on
those who are today using the fifth amendment ?
Dr. Dodd. The people I know, and I knew practically everyone in
New York City who appeared before the various committees, I know
of ]io one who has appeared and claimed the fifth amendment, in New
York City, who was not a member of the Communist Party.
Mr. KuNziG. In other words, you are saying to us here this morning
that every person that you saw take the fifth amendment in New York
City and refused to answer, while protesting innocence, was to your
knowledge a member of the Communist Party ?
Dr. Dodd. I do so say.
Mr. WaIvTer. Then that leads me to the conclusion that anybody
who advises people to refuse to answer questions propounded by this
committee is advising them very badly.
Dr. Dodd. I am glad you made that observation. It is my opinion
that those attorneys who advise their clients to take the fifth amend-
ment are putting their clients into a noose.
First of all, they are throwing upon them the obvious color of being
guilty and, secondly, they are making it difficult for them to get
out when the time comes.
Practically all those people are invited to come to private hearings
of the committees with their attorneys to discuss the matter with the
committees. In good conscience, a person who is advising a client
ought to only advise him to take the fifth amendment when answering
will really incriminate him.
Mr. Waltek. That is exactly the point. This committee never set
out to put anj'^body into trouble, and there isn't a person who has
come before this committee with his or her attorney who couldn't
in an executive session, testify to the things that we feel would be of
help to us without having any publicity attendant to that appearance,
and it is only because their lawyers don't cooperate with a duly con-
stituted committee of this Government that people get into trouble.
Dr. Dodd, May I just say one thing about the whole question of
people being called before the committees. The Communist Party
advises everyone who receives a subpena from any Government agency,
should it be a person who is connected with the party, a member of
the party, or one who has worked with the party, to get in touch at
once with his immediate superior in the party. Then he is advised as to
which legal service to get.
]Mr. ScHERER. Usually a Communist?
Dr. Dodd. Or someone — no, in many cases, lawyers who have
worked with the Communist Party. Lawyers are men out to make
a living.
Mr. Waeter. Maybe that accounts for the fact that the same lawyers
appear for witnesses before this committee whether they come from
California or Maine.
Dr. Dodd. There are certain lawyers that the Communist move-
ment will use. Many of them are not party members.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1751
j\Ir. KuNziG. You knew these lawyers since you, too, are a lawyer;
is tliat correct?
Dr. DoDD. Yes, sir.
Mr. Walter. Are those lawyers paid by the Communist Party?
Dr. DoDD. Many times these lawyers give their services for nothing
in cases of this kind because they expect to get cases later on, from the
trade-union movements, the party influences, or from various
other
Mr. AValter. We have been informed that most of these lawyers
charge $1,500 apiece. I don't know whether to tell those people they
have taken money under false pretense.
Dr. DoDD. I doubt tliat. I don't believe it. One thing about the
Communists, they don't squander money that way. They squander
money only where it is going to tell.
Mr. KuNZiG. Dr. Dodd, you mentioned how difficult it was to get
out of the party and how you are hounded and harassed. Have you
yourself had any personal experience along that line? Were you
followed, for example?
Dr. DoDD. It took me 5 years to get out of the Communist Party
completely, and I only got out of the Comminiist Party completely,
emotionally, when I found my way back to my own church.
During that time, I would rather not talk about it. My life was
one of misery. I was hounded, publicized, and given the treatment
that everybody gets who becomes a deserter from their cause.
Mr. KuNziG. Were you followed ?
Dr. DoDD. I was followed; my windows were broken; I had my
clients taken away. They tried to make it impossible for me to make
a living. They did everything they possibly could to ■
Mr. ScHERER. You mean they engaged in blacklisting?
Mr. Dodd, Well, the party itself — I don't know whether the party
at the top echelon does it, but the party consists of people and the one
end are a group of crackpots. The Comnumist Party is the only party
I know that knows how to use crackpots. It has many intelligent
people, but it has the lunatic fringe. The lunatic fringe believes
everything they say, and if they say that Bella Dodd has become a
Fascist, as they said in their papers, the lunatic fringe then takes
upon itself to take direct action.
Mr. ScHERER. You are talking about newspapers; you mean the
Daily W^orker, the Communist papers ?
Dr. Dodd. Yes, sir.
Mr. KuxziG. Dr. Dodd, when you broke with the party, you obvi-
ously had many friends, close friends, that you have known over the
years. Did they give you an opportunity to talk to them ; did they
ask you why you changed, why your viewpoint was different? I
should think they would.
Dr. Dodd. That is one of the real tragedies that I think Americans
need to note. I worked with my union for a period of 9 years. I
counted every one in the union my f rien.d. I gave all my time to the
union, all my energies to the union. Hundreds of people visited my
home and wliose homes I visited.
Tlie day tlie Communist Party expelled me, that was the day which
I was cut off from my union and cut off from all associations; even
close ijersonal friends. They refused, then, to have anvthing to do
with me.
1752 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
I found that the union that I had actually built stopped sending its
newspaper to me, dropped me from its list of past members, I have
never had an invitation since. I never talked to the people whom I
had trained in union work, and all the younger people I had trained
for union positions. That was the end.
If the party says that this person is good, he is good ; if the party
says this person is bad, he is bad, regardless of your own intelligence.
The thing which struck me was that, if the Communist movement
can do that to human beings, that kind of movement is extremely dan-
gerous. It is a movement which uses mass hysteria to control peoj)le's
minds. It is a movement which we might well be worried about.
Mr. Clardy. It "was that which caused so much difficulty, I take it,
when the Hitler-Stalin pact was entered into? They had them all in
one direction, and overnight, they had to reverse their field entirely;
isn't that true ?
Dr. DoDD. Well, the Communist Party is very successful at doing
that, however. It takes a little time, but not too long.
Take, for instance the question — we used to have the American
League Against War and Fascism. We were against war and fascism.
We were almost a superpacifist group. We picketed the White House
for peace.
Then came the invasion of the Soviet Union. Overnight, we had to
change the name for — the league's name
Mr. SciTERER. Could I interrupt because there is some future testi-
mony. When was that that you picketed the White House?
Dr. DoDD. I picketed the White House in 1940.
Mr. SciiERER. In 1940 ?
Dr. DoDD. Yes.
Mr. SciiERER, Could you fix that month ; that is very important at
this point. Doctor.
Dr. DoDD. It was either in the late spring or early summer.
Mr. ScHERER. That is all.
Dr. DoDD. It was in 1940. I may be in error.
Mr. ScHERER. That is close enough for my purposes; I just wanted
to pinpoint the time that you picketed the White House.
Mr. KuNZiG. The invasion, as we all know, of Russia by Germany,
was in June of 1941, and that was the time, I believe, not necessarily
when you were there, but that was the time when the pickets marching
around the White House were called home within 24 hours ?
Dr. DoDD. I was chairman of a trade-union committee for peace. I
led a lot of women down there, and we picketed the White House for
peace.
Then suddenly we were told we had to be for war. It took us at
least 2 months to wash out the old idea and put in the new one.
Mr. Kdnzig. Dr. Dodd, wliile you were in New York, while you were
a member of the New York State Committee of the Communist Party,
did you know an individual by the name of J. Peters — and, before you
answer, I would like to say something on the record about J. Peters.
J. Peters, as you know, was the author of the instruction book on es-
pionage. He has been established as head of the Soviet-controlled
espionage organization which operated in America. Did T'^ou know
J. Peters ? If so, how did you know him ?
Dr. Dodd. Well, that is an interesting question, because I knew
the J. Peters manual before ; I had read it. It had been given to me
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1753
to read and study, and I knew a man by the name of Steve Miller, but
Steve Miller was an insignificant little fellow who used to help with
mimeographing at party headquarters. He was attached to the New
York County committee. He was assigned from time to time to teach
communism to some of the teachers, kind of take individual teachers
who were rising in the party movement and give them special instruc-
tions. I thought he was just an insignificant little fellow until one
day the authorities picked him up and I discovered he was J. Peters.
He was engaged in using teachers throughout the United States for
maildrop purposes, for revoluntionary mail that was going back and
forth from the Soviet Union into the United States.
They would approach a pretty innocent teacher who came close to
the movement and say, "Would you mind if a letter comes to your
address?"
Some mail would come to someone in Columbus or Cleveland or in
California or in my section of New York, and the person would have
no more relationship to that mail than the man in the moon.
That mail would be mail which the party was getting from overseas.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, I would like to turn to and delve deeper into
your work in teachers' unions.
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Kunzig, just before we get into that, could we
have a 5-minute recess?
(A short recess was taken.)
Mr. ScHERER. Proceed.
Mr. Kunzig. We are ready to begin, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Dodd, I would like to turn now to putting a little more emphasis
on your activities with teachers, professors, and the Teachers' Union.
Could you explain how the Commm lists got control of the Teachers'
Union ; how that was worked ?
Dr. boDD. Now, first let me make clear, the American Federation
of Teachers, an A. F. of L. union, is not a Communist organization. In
many cities, many towns and localities, you will have teachers' unions
which are not Communist. In some cities and towns they will have
no Communists in the community. I don't want to in any way detract
from the efficacy and work the teachers' unions do throughout the
United States.
My association with the teachers' unions were largely with the
teachers' unions of New York and with some of the people who
became officers of the American Federation of Teachers during the
time that I was active.
I came to the Teachers' Union just naturally since I was interested
in the conditions of work in various colleges and universities around
New York. It was natural that I should help organize the teachers,
instructors, professors — largely the instructors — tutors, and lower
categories into an association for improving their conditions.
One thing we Americans must never overlook is that, where there
are problems, it is our duty to try to better conditions, to make condi-
tions worth while and consonant with the American way of life.
I had organized the instructors and tutors at Hunter College for the
purpose of getting tenure for those people. I was interested in getting
permanent tenure for the people in the City College. You could be
fired at will. The public-school teachers didn't have tenure, and so I
had made it my duty to organize them for the purpose of getting
tenure. I achieved that purpose. I was able to get a bill passed in the
1754 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
State legislature, through some of the members that I knew in the
State legislature on the education committee.
As soon as that bill was passed, the Communists became very
friendly with me and their next question was, "Why don't we take
this organization into a union,'' and pretty soon they said, "Of course,
the labor movement would help the teachers get better conditions'';
and, being prolabor, I said, "Xo reason why we shouldn't join the
Teachers' Union.*'
The Teachers' Union had existed in New York City, organized as a
protest against what happened in the First World War. We joined
that organization, but as soon as 1 got into that organization I
recognized that the Communists were struggling with the non-Com-
munists in a real fight for control. The non-Communists were not
very bright about the struggle, and the Communists took over the
entire situation.
When I came into the Teachers' Union, because I had that bill
passed on tenure, they asked me to become a legislative representative
of the Teachers' Union temporarily.
Well, ni}' temporary stay there developed into a permanent stay
because I was elected every year. I was elected because the Communists
supported me. The Communists within the Teachers' Union operate
the way they operate in every other organization, every other union.
First, they got rid of all those who were in opposition to Communists.
Mr. KuNziG. How did they get rid of them ?
Mr. DoDD. Well, they got rid of them by organization, and they got
rid of them also by using complete— you see, the first struggle w^as
between the Communists — the Lovestoneites, Trotskyists, and the
Stalinists. The splinter groups within the Communist movement
recognized what the Communists were.
First they organized against them, and in many cases they used
completely innocent people who were not at all geared to understand
this struggle that went on in the left-wing movement.
By bringing in many people who were not at all geared to left-wing
ideology, they organized and got rid of the people in the splinter
groups. However, the splinter groups made the mistake of becoming
political and not taking up the issues of the people. The Communists
would actually take a special issue like better wages for the substitute
teachers and they would make tliemselves the protagonist for the
group of underprivileged people. In that w^ay they wiped out some
of tlie splinter groups.
Once they took control, it was very hard for them to be dislodged
because they would control the executive board, the delegate assembly.,
they AYOuld control all the committees and once you take control of a
structui'e of an organization, it is hard to be pushed out.
Mr. KuNziG. Did they then make the Teachers' Union work a basi&
for their own purposes and functions and only incidentally for the-
good of teachers?
Dr. DoDD. One of the things you must understand about Marxism'
and Leninism and I think the trade-union people do understand this —
they didn't in the 1930's, but they do now —
Lenin once said :
We are not interestPd in unions as reforming organizations, we are interested!
in unions as politicalizing institutions.
COMMUXIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1755
In other ^YO^ds, they regarded with contempt unions engaged in
what is called "economism,'' that is, improving the economic conditions.
It is only important if it can be politicalized. The Teachers' Union
of New York City, unfortunately, came to be used as a real political
Aveapon by the party, because the Teachers' Union was one of the few
unions over which they had some control in the A. F, of L. They used
it on every occasion in the State Federation and the National Federa-
tion of Labor.
They used us to get political resolution j^assed. For instance, I re-
member in 1938, the party was very much interested in unity between
the CIO and the A. F. of L. Certainly that was a good slogan. When
they came to me and said, '"Will you fight for unity between the CIO
and the A. F. of L.," I said, "Yes."
They said, "Would you introduce a resolution on that subject in the
Central Trades and Labor Council?"
I said, "Yes."
There were other groups in the council other than teachers, but the
teachers were compelled by the party to introduce the resolution on
unity and call a conference of all unions for miity between the CIO
and the A. F. of L.
As a result of that conference, we were expelled from the labor
council — kicked out of the State Federation of Labor because we had
acted on the directions of the party.
As a result of tliat, we developed many problems within the Ameri-
can Federation of Teachers. Finally, on the question of peace, we
were going along, the New York locals, the New York Teachers'
Union, the WPA local, plus some of the Pennsylvania and Philadel-
phia and New Jersey locals were going along on the party's fight for
peace. We opposed aid to England and France, and a struggle de-
veloped in the American Federation of Teachers between the pro-
Communists and the anti-Communists.
As a result of that, we were expelled from the American Federation
of Teachers because we had fought so strongly for the peace programs
that the party insisted upon.
In other words, they used our union not to help the members to get
better conditions, but they used it largely as a political wedge for the
purpose of bringing forth political ideas.
Mr. W^ALTER. Dr. Dodd, do I understand you to mean that the
Communists are not interested in the economic conditions of the
workers ?
Dr. DoDD. They are interested in that insofar as they can use the
slogans to attract thousands of people and bring thern under their
influence.
Mr. Walter. In other words, their sole interest is political?
Dr. DoDD. Their main interest is political. Actually, if they have
to cut down on the benefits of the workers if a political problem is
paramount, they will cut down on the economic interests of the
Avorkers.
For instance, you take the question of the Negro people. During
the World War, the Communists, since we were fighting with Russia,
since we were so much concerned about winning that war and protect-
ing the Soviet Union particularly, that we were not interested, for
instance, in improving the conditions of the Negro people in the
Armed Forces or the Negro people in the trade unions. It was a
1756 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
"natural" at that particular time during the war when there was a
manpower shortage for the party to bring forth slogans to improve
the conditions of the Negro people in the industries, in the trade
unions, and in the Armed Forces, but the Communist Party advised,
as a matter of fact, it penalized certain people for bringing forth those
slogans. They said that those slogans were not to be brought forth in
the midst of a political struggle.
Mr. ScHERER. They were interested in the problems of minority'
groups generally in order to attract them to the Communist cause?
Dr. DoDD. There is no more depressing problem than the way the
party uses the minority groups for the purpose of creating chaos and
division among the people, creating fear and hatred among them-
selves in order that the many Communist organizations may promote
the things in which they are interested.
Mr. ScHERER. At one time, the Communist Party was opposed to
anti-Semitism, is that right?
Dr. DoDD. The Communist Party has always claimed it is against
anti-Semitism, but at one time, it will support the establishment of an
Israeli state and another time be against it. It depends on which
way the Soviet policy is going whether it is for the establishment of
the Israeli Government.
Mr. ScHERER. Today the Communist Party is violently anti-
Semitic, isn't it?
Dr. DoDD. Let me just put it this way. Congressman Scherer, to be
fair, publicly they will say they are against it, but when the question
arose, when the 10 or 12 doctors were arrested — what happened in
the Daily Worker, the unit which gives the line out to the party peo-
ple— the Daily Worker began using the same kind of lies which Fascist
minded people might be using against the Jewish people. They kept
saying, "Of course, there are Jews down in Wall Street, and there-
fore the doctors in the Soviet Union must be the same type of charac-
ters as those people."
In other words, they mouthed the same kind of anti-Semitism which
we hear from people who are a real menace.
Mr. Scherer. The Kremlin today is taking the position against the
Jews because it wants to court the favor of the Arabs, doesn't it ? The
Russians are interested, perhaps, in Arabian oil?
Dr. DoDD. There is no doubt in my mind that the Communist Party
in America is trying to hold onto its slogan of being against anti-
Semitism because it recognizes that Americans basically are against
discrimination, but they will follow whatever line the Kremlin gives
them.
If the Kremlin is interested in wooing the Arabs, they will follow
that line, but they will confuse it sufficiently so that people in America
don't know where they stand.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, just as a matter of interest, didn't the Daily
Worker, after the doctors were set free, say, "This shows how fair
justice is," just a few weeks after they denounced the same doctors?
• Dr. DoDD. No doubt about that.
Mr. KuNziG. About how many Communist teachers would you say,
within your knowledge, are there in the United States?
Dr. DoDD. I have no knowledge now, but at the time I had knowl-
edge, I would say conservatively, we had about 1,500 members of the
Communist Party.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1757
Mr. KuNziG. Is it possible for you to say, at least roughly, how many
mioht have been in the State of Ohio?
Dr. DoDD. It is impossible for me to say how many in the State of
Ohio. I only knew of 2 or 3 people in the State of Ohio and the
reason is that information of that kind is never made available to any-
one. It was decentralized and kept in the hands of the professional
j)eople themselves.
Mr. KuNziG. Are you suggesting that professional people and
teachers are handled in a special way ?
Dr. DoDD. Yes, I said in the very beginning
Mr. KuNziG. Could you explain that for us ?
Dr. DoDD. The party is very zealous in protecting the names of
people in the professional groups, in the civil service, in government,
in the State or National legislatures. They will say people are friends
of the party, but they will not say that they are members of the
party, and their cards, if there are cards in that locality, will be held
by the party at the head of the group and not given to the secretary of
the party.
Mr. KuNziG. If there was a professor in a college anywhere, in Los
Angeles, Philadelphia, Columbus, Ohio, for example, his Communist
Party membership and his participation in Communist activities
w^ould be kept on a highly secret level ?
Dr. DoDD. Yes, it would.
Mr. KuNziG. And you know that of your own knowledge, from
your own experience in that party ?
Dr. DoDD. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. What instructions, would you say, Dr. Dodd, would
the party give him, this mythical Communist teacher or professor with
regard to his own activities?
Dr. DoDD. If thej regarded him as an important person, they would
tell him not to admit that he is a Communist Party member, and that
he is to get instructions. Sometimes he met with a unit of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
or 7 people; sometimes not with a unit, but with one person from the
party headquarters who would bring him literature, give him instruc-
tions. Any time he had problems, he would go to that person and
pay his dues to that person.
Mr. KuNziG. How was he supposed to act with regard to outside
organizations, with special reference to his membership in different
groups ?
Dr. DoDD. Communism is like a religion. President Eisenhower
said that the other day, but it is a religion without a God. If you
believe strongly in communism, it is your duty to bring it into every
phase of your life.
If you are a member of the American Association of University Pro-
fessors, if you are a member of the association of your specialty, such
as a member of the mathematical association, it is your duty to bring
the party line into those organizations.
If you are a member of a fraternity, you are supposed to bring it into
the fraternity, into any group where there is the privilege of discus-
sion. If you are a teacher, you are supposed to live by the principles of
Marxism and Leninism. You are not supposed, of course, to get your-
self in trouble. The party warns you not to get your head knocked off ;
it warns you to stay within security and remain on your job.
1758 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. KuNziG. Would yon explain to us perhaps in a little bit more
detail, so that it is perfectly clear what you mean exactly by "party
line" and what you mean particularly when you talk about party
discipline.
Dr. DoDD. Well, the party line, of course, is a rough translation of
fhe tactics of the party.
You know there is a strategy of the party and tactics of the party.
The strategy of the party is world revolution. In a country like the
United States which is in preparation, a non-Communist country, this
country is being prepared for revolution. The revolution may not be
a bloody one, it may be like the one they had in Czechoslovakia ^^■here
they opened the doors to the Soviet Union. A party line is the tactic
of the party. The tactic is the program that changes day by day that
the party makes in order to advance its strategy or its ultimate
objective.
The tactics may mean today we may be friendly with the CIO.
Tomorrow we may be fighting the CIO. Today we may be for peace,
tomorrow we may be for war. That is, the party line shifts constantly.
Today we may support coalition with the Democratic Party, tomor-
row, a party of our own.
Those are the tactical changes and tliey change as they feel the ])ulse
of tlie country. They are very astute about taking the pulse of the
people of this Nation and depending on what the pulse tells them, they
form their party line. Their line is the tactic which is followed and
the tactic is to promote the strategy.
It is also in line with the ultimate objective of taking this country
or any other country into revolution or into the world Communist fold,
Mr. Walter. May I interrupt you at this point. Doctor? Isn't it
a fact that since the expulsion of the Trotskyists in 1928 or 1929, the
tactics have been directed from Eussia so that whatever the tactics are
in this country, they get the directions from Russia?
Dr. DoDD. There is no doubt, at first, the Third International, the
Comintern, which w^as in existence at that time, laid down the policy
for all the world Communist Parties. For instance, the seventh world
congress of the Comintern laid down the policy of the united front,
laying down the anti-Fascist, united-front tactic of fighting the
Fascists.
Then when the Soviet-Nazi pact was formed, we had to have a new
line of approach which was, everything which would strengthen the
Soviet Union was good for the working class all over the world — even
unity with the Nazis.
Of course, when the Soviet Union was attacked by the Nazis, there
Avas the slogan of saving democracy. Then the United States, France,
England, China, and the Soviet Union became the great democracies.
When in 1945, the policy in Russia was changed — at that time the
Comintern had been abolished as a concession, I think, to the United
States — because tlie United States said. "All right, we will have co-
existence, but we don't want any Comintern directing the Commu-
nist Party in the ITnited States." Then in 1945, the Soviet Union
changed its line, which was not announced to the entire world, but came
in the form of the Duclos letter to the Communist Party of the United
States. No tactics for United States Communists from 1929 on were
made by the Communist Party of the United States.
COIVIMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1759
That doesn't mean tliat tlie average Connnnnist teacher was aware
'of that. We were also told that the party here was an indigenous
radical party to support and promote the welfare of the American
people. Most of us believed that. I want to get that on the record in
all fairness.
People Avho were sucked into this moveinent, most of us believed it,
until we stopped and began thinking contrary to the collective think-
ing that the Communist Party imposed on us.
Mr. Clardy. The Duclos letter was obviously started on its journey
from Russia and brought the message tliat the line had been changed
•and you should move in the opposite direction, but it came initially
via France from Russia.
Dr. DoDD. That is right.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, you have been talking about party line.
'Gould you go into a little more detail on discipline and how it oper-
:ates?
Dr. Dodd. Discipline in the Communist Party is very strict. It is
a strange kind of thing. You wonder why many Americans who are
so accustomed to liberty would accede to the discipline.
Actually, if we believe a thing to be right, we want discipline. So,
tfor instance, many Communists are held in line by the disciplinary
-actions of the Communist Party. Disciplinary action means that you
are called before a board.
You see, the Communist movement has within itself its own police
'System, its own security committees. xVs a matter of fact, it has an
■equivalent of all the protective agencies which the Government has.
It has its oMn security system, its own detectives, its own spy ap-
paratus to see that the Communist members in key positions are not
•double crossing the party.
Mr. KuxziG. Were you ever called before one of tl;ose control com-
missions ?
Dr. Dodd. Well, in 1945 and 19-18, I was called before three control
'Commissions.
Mr. KuNziG. What happened? I think we would all be interested
in knowing what happened at a meeting before a control commission.
Dr. Dodd. First of all, they have information on what you have been
doing.
Mr. Clardy. You mean they had informers to tell them what you
liad been doing?
Mr. ScHERER. Stool pigeons?
Dr. Dodd. For instance, my secretary who happened to be a mem-
ber of the Communist Party, my secretary in my law office— my office
unfortunately came to be a place where people who were unhappy in
the pai'ty began to drop in and say they were unhappy.
Mr. KuxzTG. Was that because you were becoming unhappy?
Dr. Dodd. Well, I wasn't austere. I had a humanist approach to
life.
What happened was that I would pat them on the back and tell
them not to be unhappy about their work. I would just kind of
cheer them on. I told them that many problems had arisen, just to
sit still and wait, things might clear themselves up, but what hap-
pened was that my secretary liad letters — any letters I had writtpii
to anybody — she would take letters out of mv files.
1760 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
She had given testimony to the party and I was charged with some
of the things which I was supposed to have said in my office.
At that time I was trying to pull out of the party. I recognized
I was in the wrong pew. I recognized that there was danger but I
didn't know how to get out. In my struggle to get out, I said certain
things which were public.
Of course, certain people stayed at my home and I remember there
was one old seaman who stayed at my home because he had no place
to go, he was ill between trips and he had been called down to the
waterfront section. They had taken testimony from him on me. He
came back and said he didn't know why they were writing everything
he said down.
All this testimony was used on the three occasions. All three
times, I said, "Look, all I want to do is to practice law. Leave me
alone. I will be a member of the committee until you select someone
else to take my place."
Mr. KuNziG. Would they threaten you at these hearings?
Dr. DoDD. No, no, the gentlemen in charge of those committees —
they might others, but they didn't threaten me. I have known of
others like Johnny Lautner, who were threatened, but I was not. All
they did was ask pertinent questions. I wondered where they got the
information. For instance, I made a speech at a branch meeting in
1947 about the establishment of the Cominform. That was estab-
lished as a substitute for the Comintern, for the countries of Europe,
and I had made a speech in which I had made a remark about it, and
that remark had been taken to headquarters and repeated. I was
charged with it.
They didn't say anything. They just asked me questions, and then
they let me go, but I knew then that something was in the works.
Mr. Clardt. Then, when the Communist Party or its members
begin screaming about the method that this or other committees may
use in having hearings, they are a little hypocritical ; aren't they ?
Dr. DoDD. Oh, you gentlemen of the congressional committees
don't begin to approach the tactics which they have in keeping their
organization from being attacked by those who infiltrate it.
Mr. Clardt. Are they careful to respect the thing we call academic
freedom ?
Dr. DoDD. There is only one academic freedom to them, that is
loyalty to the Communist Party. There is no room for a difference
of opinion.
Mr. Clardt. You agree or else ?
Dr. DoDD. Yes.
Mr. KuNZTG. For a moment, getting away from teachers, is it
your opinion from your own personal experience that hearings by leg-
islative committees such as this one or such as the Ohio Committee
hurt the Communist movement?
Dr. DoDD. There is no doubt in my mind that if we can get before
the public for thinking Americans the pattern of how this thing
happens we are going to help to eradicate this danger from the Amer-
ican scene.
Mr. ScHERER. You are giving us that pattern very ably this morn-
ing, Doctor, I am sure.
Dr. DoDD. I think that is all I can do. I am not here to hurt any-
one. I am not here to hound anyone. I am here to help the American
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1761
people understand how this thing works. '\^nien they are approached
to sign a petition or to join a committee, they must ask themselves not
only, "Is this immediately good, but in whose interest is this being done
and by whom?"
Mr. KuNZiG. From your own experience and from practical exam-
ples, could you explain how hearings by the House Committee on Un-
American Activities, for example, how they have hurt the Communist
cavise and have aided Communists to perhaps leave the party ?
Dr. DoDD. Well, first of all, of course, I don't think anyone in
America — I am certain no one in our Congress would be opposed to a
man who got up and said, "Look, I am a Communist. This is what I
believe."
No matter how unpopular his beliefs are, I am certain that you
would protect his right to believe them. The thing which has made
this so dangerous is that a man gets up and says, "I am a Democrat,"
or "I am a Republican. I believe in the thing called Americanism,"
and then he proceeds to put in the party line.
A country has a right to defend itself, and that is exactly what I
think these committees are doing. I think they are exposing the way
the pattern works and also taking the leading actors in the drama
and making it impossible for them to work any further. It doesn't
mean you are going to work on everybody in the conspiracy, but you
uumobilize certain people.
Mr. ScHERER. We immobilize certain Communist-front organiza-
tions by designating them as such. Then contributions from well-
meaning people stop.
Dr. DoDD. I think that is true also.
Mr. KuNziG. Communists fight back against legislative committees
because the committees really hurt them ?
Dr. DoDD. There is no doubt about that.
Mr. KuNziG. Do they fight back by methods of fear, and if so, will
you explain how that is done ?
Dr. DoDD. Anyone who opposes the Communist line, anyone who is
going to hurt them in any way, is bound to get the full impact of the
attacks of the Communists plus all of their friends.
The attack is always in high-sounding words. The congressional
committees of the United States Government become the agents of
Fascists, and therefore, everyone is asked to organize against the
"agents of fascism."
Mr. KuNziG. You mean that is what the Communists say ?
Dr. DoDD. That is what the Communists say.
Mr. ScHERER. That is "mild," Doctor, anyone who opposes them is
called a Fascist or an America Firster.
Dr. DoDD. Or it becomes a McCarranite, or a McCarthyite.
Let me assure you that these are just general smear words. They
are emotional words. They are words which have no definition, and
first you create a sense of fear and hatred and then you apply this
word to everyone against you.
The Communist movement is a highly centralized and highly or-
ganized movement. One of the reasons why they have had such as-
tounding success in countries even like the United States — J. Edgar
Hoover says there are 25,000. William Z. Foster, head of the party,
says there are 70,000. Whether it is 25,000 or 70,000, that is a small
number in comparison with 160 million Americans. Twenty thou-
1762 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
sand Communists highly organized and placed in key positions, can
create a tremendous amount of difficulty.
In smearing a committee such as your committee, what is done is
this : First, you have to get the Communist Party in opposition. Then
every trade union where there are Communists is immediately started
to put out the line that if the attack is against the Communists, the
next attack will be against labor. They get the trade unions to pass
resolutions against anything that is against Communists. Then, they
go into women's organizations and minority group organizations,
the Negro people, the Jewish people, the foreign-born people, and stir
them up. They charge that these committees are intended to annihi-
late them, and, therefore, they had better pass the resolution against
investigations.
The Communists do have representation in practically every key
area in America, in scientific societies, in intellectual circles, women's
clubs, trade unions, and these organizations are all then made to adopt
the resolutions against them.
How do they promote this resolution? First, they will get some-
one to make a statement. They get a Communist not known as a
Communist. Take a person, let say a person wdio is outstanding in
religious fields or educational fields. He will write
]\[r. KuNziG. You mean a Communist outstanding in a religious
field?
Dr. DoDD. Might be.
Mr. KuNziG. I see,
Mr. Clardy. But you say one not known as a Communist ?
Dr. DoDD. An outstanding professor not known as a Comnuniist.
He and 2 or 3 othere will then get a telegram saying, "We are opposed
to the investigation of this committee. It promotes the interest of the
McCarthyites, and so on and so forth."
Then, that telegram is sent to, let's say, a thousand other people.
They have lists. I have had them myself, lists of ministers, doctors,
lawyers, and others.
Mr. ScHERER. You mean the lists are in the party headquarters ?
Dr. DoDD. Lists are in party headquarters and in some of the front
committees, which they have established like the American Committee
for Democracy and Intellectual Freedom, run by a secretary who is
a member of the Communist Party.
Mr. Clardy. Are you talking about a list of Communists or non-
Commvniists ?
Dr. DoDD. There will be a list of both, non-Communists and Com-
munists, predominantly non-Communists, but people who they can
use from time to time to respond to various causes.
Mr. Clakdy. People, you mean, who are occupying positions of
some importance so that their ideas will carry weight?
Dr. DoDD. That is right.
Mr. KuNziG. Give us such names.
Dr. Dodo. The American Committee for Democracy and Intellectual
Freedom liad its headcjuarters in New York City. Its secretary
was a young man by the name of Moe Finklestein. He was a very
outstanding scholar, a history teacher. He was the secretary of this-
connnittee. He had lists of all the college professors, doctors, lawyers^,
and what not, who belonged to his committee. Most of them were
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1763
not Communists, but what lie would do was to get 2 or 3 Communist
Party people to draft a telegram or draft a letter and say, "Will you
join with me in sending the following message to the President of the
United States?'' Or a letter to the Congress, or to the regents of the
State Board of Education of New York.
Mr. ScHERER. Did they use this procedure you are describing when
they wanted to smear somebody in public life, or as you said before,
get rid of people in the Teachers" Union who were opposed to the
Connnunist program ?
Dr. DoDxi. They would use it.
Mr. ScHERER. That same tactic ?
Dr. DoDD. They would use the tactic both as a method of creating
public opinion for something that they wanted and creating public
opinion violently against either individuals or a line.
Mr. Walter. Now, perhaps what you say, what you have just testi-
fied to offers an explanation for the action taken by the CIO at its
national convention where it adopted the resolution :
The repeal of the McCarran-Walter Act on the grounds that it was an anti-
Catholic, and anti-Semitic action.
At hearings held in Washington last week on other legislation, it
was the privilege of the Committee on Immigration to hear the testi-
mony of Monsignor Swanstrom, a very prominent Catholic clergy-
man. He was asked the question whether or not the immigration law
was anti-Catholic and he said it was certainly not, and he had never
even heard the charge made that it was.
The following day. Congressman Javits, a Republican from New
York, testifying on behalf of all the Jewish organizations on this
same measure was asked the question of wherein is this legislation
anti-Semitic and he said, "In no respect whatsoever."
In view of the fact that these two very prominent men in the
Catholic and Jewish religions have testified that this law is not anti-
Catholic or anti-Semitic, I am wondering why and how the CIO
adopted a resolution in which the charge was made that it was.
Perhaps you have today given us the explanation.
Dr. DoDD. I can't speak for the CIO. I don't know why they
adopted it, but I certainly agree with both the statements you have
had on the Walter-McCarran Act.
Mr. SciiERER. We interrupted you, and I started it, when you were
beginning to tell us the mechanics of getting out these telegrams, these
petitions and resolutions, either to promote a cause or to smear an
individual or a cause.
Dr. DoDD. That is right.
Mr. ScHERER. You got as far as saying that a group of Communists
or non-Communists would get together and initiate a telegram or a
resolution.
Now, would you continue from there, because it is important.
Dr. DoDD. The secretary of the committee would send out the letter
or the telegram or resolution to a thousand people, fifteen hundred,
two thousand, and say, "Wire collect whether we may use vonr namft
on tlie list."
Mr. KuNziG. Many of these were perfectly good citizens?
Dr. DoDD. Yes, and the telegrams would be so framed that any
intelligent person might go along with it. The telegram would be
-to-'
1764 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
SO framed that it would be semiambiguous, but when the newspaper
story was written, it would be written by the secretary of the commit-
tee. He would then say, "Five thousand people signed a letter pro-
testing thus and thus," and at that time the story would be angled
though the telegram itself might be mild. The story would be given
a greater slant in the direction they wanted it to go.
Mr. ScHERER. And these people who were called upon to sign this
telegram or go along with this resolution were usually members of the
various Communist-front organizations?
Dr. DoDD. Some of them were, some of them were just people in
key positions who had in the past done something which was liberal
or which they regard as liberal or progressive.
Mr. Clardy. Would you say the series of lists were "sucker lists"
that they could count on to respond when the button was pressed at
Communist headquarters?
Dr. DoDD. Practically all the organizations through which the party
works, whether a political action committee or a committee for cul-
tural freedom — I don't mean to imply the last one, but there were
committees of that kind — practically all of these committees which
were operated by some one Communist Party member on them had
lists of people to whom they could appeal with telegrams of one kind
or another.
There were different lists for different purposes.
Mr, Clardy. People they felt they could rely on to respond?
Dr. DoDD. Yes.
Mr. Walter. Was Franz Boas — was he a Communist ?
Dr. DoDD. He was not a member, but Moe Finklestein was the secre-
tary of the committee.
Mr. Walter. He was running the show ?
Dr. DoDD. Dr. Boas was a man of deep convictions about discrimi-
nation and things of that kind, but the work of the party was done by
the people who were doers on the committee.
Mr. KuNZiG. Can you name some people who might be perfectly
decent people who were on these "sucker" lists and who would
respond ?
Dr. DoDD. You probably know those names better than I do. They
are the leading intellectuals of America, leading people of America.
Christian Gauss, of Princeton University, was on that list. People
like Einstein were on that list.
It is the list of the leading intellectuals in America who would be
sent these telegrams. Sometimes they responded, sometimes they
didn't.
Mr. Walter. I remember on one occasion there was an automobile
accident in Pittsburgh, and the local police came out with a lot of
names which this committee went over and never made public, but
among them were 60 or 70 of the most prominent clergymen in western
Pennsylvania, priests, rabbis, and everybody else on the "sucker" list.
Dr. DoDD. Sometimes they would send telegrams which said, "If
we don't hear from you, we will add your name to the list."
Sometimes they got protests because they acted too fast.
Mr. KuNziG. Well, Dr. Dodd, you talk about these names and how
they were gotten together. Were some of them ever used without the
consent of the particular person whose name was being used?
COMMinsriST activities in the COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1765
Dr. DoDD. As I said, sometimes the telegram was sent saying, "If
we don't hear from you, we will add your name to the telegram."
I think sometimes people were quoted without giving permission.
Mr. KuNziG. Do I interpret what you say correctly that the respon-
sibility really in this type of situation falls on the individual citizen,
who should think carefully before he leaps, so to speak?
Dr. DoDD. I think there is a responsibility at present in America,
the intellectuals, the professional people in America have a special
responsibility because they are the ones who have been used. They
have a special responsibility not to endorse telegrams, letters, or reso-
lutions unless they know where it comes from and to what end it is
going to be used because they are being used to confuse the American
public. They are being used in order to divide and to confuse and
to create chaos in American public opinion.
Mr. KuNziG. Your description of this fantastic organization that
the Communist Party has put together to influence people who are
not Communists is most interesting. Would you say it therefore
follows that anti-Communists and people fighting against communism
are not as well organized as Communists are?
Dr. DoDD. There is no doubt in my mind that the reason which
explains the tremendous success of the Communists in this country
and throughout the world lies only in one fact. We have a doctrine
of life which is every bit as good as, and infinitely superior to, the
doctrine of life of the Communists. The essence of the Constitution
and the Declaration of Independence — there is nothing superior to
that.
Mr. Clardy. Don't we have one other factor? Don't we have a
belief in God which they don't have ?
Dr. DoDD. That is right. The Declaration says, we hold these
truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. They are
endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights. The Creator
gave them these rights.
There are also the doctrines which we have which are superior to
the Communist doctrine. The reason why we are losing out and they
are gaining is that you have to have an organized agency for the
purpose of supporting the thing which you are interested in. The
Communists have it, a highly centralized, highly organized, highly
articulate agency with plenty of money, whereas we are leading our
laissez-faire existence without organization, and if anyone attempts to
fight communism, they are spread thin and there is danger that they
will be smeared and destroyed.
]Mr. Clardy. Isn't that where committees like our own serve a use-
ful public purpose?
Dr. DoDD. That is right, and you need organized support on the
])art of the people back home, not only in your districts, but all over
the country.
Mr. Clardy. We need the kind of support you are talking about?
Dr. DoDD. Yes, if you do something worthwhile in America, and
someone gets up and writes a telegram, good ; that is fine.
Mr. ScHERER. A couple of those telegrams would help the morale
of this committee occasionally.
Mr. Walter. We get the other kind.
.35663— .53 3
1766 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. Clardt. May I say that during the Los Angeles hearings held
some months ago, we received a total of around 5,000 letters and
telegrams and only an infinitesimal percentage were antagonistic.
We had the advantage there of good press coverage, and good radio
coverage, and good television coverage, and the message apparently
got across.
Dr. DoDD. We used to send telegrams in the Communist Party. If
we were going to do something, we would have telegrams mimeo-
graphed. We would spread the mimeographed telegrams and get
people to sign their names, pay their 33 cents, and we would send them.
Mr. Clardy. Congressmen got those messages constantly on almost
every issue.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, turning back to teachers, would you say
a Communist teacher is a free person ?
Dr. DoDD. A free person, no; a Communist is not a free person,
although he thinks he is free. He thinks he is free because he is defy-
ing what is established society, but unfortunately, no Communist is
free. He must live within the incubus of the Communist line, and if
he doesn't follow it, some pretty sad results will be visited upon his
head, so that he is not free to think as he wants to, to act as he wants
to, or to operate w^ithin his profession as he wants to. He is urged
to join certain organizations. He must conform to what the party
asks him to do.
Mr. ScHERER. What you say is true, Doctor, because we have had
similar testimony from a number of fine witnesses before this com-
mittee.
I am thinking of one in the Los Angeles area who had advanced to
a high place in his profession as a writer, but when he became a mem-
ber of the Communist Party, he was willing to submit his writings
to functionaries of the party, who blue-penciled that writing and
said, "This doesn't conform to the party line."
Men with education far inferior to his were able to edit his work.
He freely admitted that happened to him on occasions. Certainly,
that wasn't academic freedom as we know it.
Dr. Dodd. If you wrote at all, even if you wrote within your own
field, a physicist or a teacher, if you wrote a book on how to teach
and were a member of the party, you had to subniit it to the group,
the collective, for their opinion and their instructions. Even if you
wrote a novel, you had to submit it for approval, and if it was not
then approved and you insisted upon publishing it, you were sub-
ject to expulsion and to getting all the reprisals of getting bad reviews
by those who are writing reviews on books.
Mr. ScHERER. Weren't there certain members of the party, or func-
tionaries of the party, that were assigned to that particular task with-
in the party of reviewing works such as we have been talking about?
Dr. DoDD. Well, yes ; there was a cultural committee.
Mr. Clardy. They extended this censorship in the field of science
and music ?
Dr. Dodd. Into every activity of the members. Even on the ques-
tion of art, if you were an artist and your paintings did not conform
with the Marxist-Leninist approach, 'you would be criticized by the
group to which you belonged which was a group of artists. If you
didn't change your line of tactics, if you didn't conform to the criti-
cisms, you would find yourself out.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1767
Mr. ScHEBER. You gentlemen recall the testimony of the director
in Hollywood who told about the show that was being rehearsed
where Hitler and Stalin were dancing, Hitler had a knife at the back
of Stalin and Stalin had a knife at the back of Hitler, and the Com-
munist Party functionary in control of these people made them take
the knife out of the hand of Stalin.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, you would say, then, wouldn't yoii, that
freedom and freedom of speech and so forth, as it is used today in this
constant discussion of academic freedom, has no application in the
sense in which it is specifically being used when referred to Communist
school teachers ?
Dr. Dodd. Only one freedom the Communist teacher has. Once he
joins the movement, he is within the collectivity. He performs accord-
ing to the collective. There is this semblance of freedom which may
delude teachers, because it is the function of the Communist Party to
create a defiance of government and defiance of the established in-
stitutions of this country, the teacher is permitted to exhibit that de-
fiance against all legally constituted authorities.
Mr. Clakdy. That is what they want him to do ?
Dr. Dodd. That is what they want him to do, but he doesn't recognize
that. He thinks the party is giving him great freedom. The Com-
munist Party is pushing him in the line of defiance and creating this
defiance against the regularly established institutions, but he doesn't
dare say "boo" when it comes to the question of the Communist Party
or anything the Communist Party sets down.
I remember once I was at a convention of the American Federation
of Teachers, 1937, and the great question was whether the American
Federation of Teachers should go into the CIO or not, and the party
had laid down the rigid rule that unless we had 90 percent of the
members of the union, or 85 percent of the members of the union inter-
ested in going to the CIO, we should stay with the A. F. of L.
We happened to have 60 percent of the delegates who wanted to go
into the CIO. In spite of the fact that most of us wanted to go to the
CIO, we were compelled because we had two party leaders in the
hotel there practically holding a whip over us — we stayed with the
A. F. of L. against our better judgment and better instincts, but we had
to conform to the policy of the party.
Mr. Clardy. Did Communists, and did you when you were work-
ing with the Communists, make use of teachers to infiltrate political
organizations ?
Dr. Dodd. Teachers are an extremely valuable part of the Com-
munist Party.
First, they are great people for raising money and contributing
money to the party. Secondly, they are an articulate group and good
to look at. You can send them into any organization, and they can
stand on their own two feet and speak up and be heard. One of the
things we did was to use teachers in the various political parties.
In New York State, we used them in the American Labor Party,
and in the Progressive Party. There have been places where we sent
them into the Democratic Party or the Republican Party to operate as
Eepublicans and Democrats, you know, but to operate as Communists
within their organizations.
Mr. Clardy. How do Communists on a college campus function?
1768 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Dr. DoDD. Where there was a unit of at least three or more mem-
bers, they would meet regularly and function as a unit. They would
get instructions from the person in charge of the county or city on
which the campus was located. They would pay their dues to that
person. At their meetings, they would discuss first the party line, get
education on the Marxist-Leninist line and, second, they would dis-
cuss the question of how to penetrate other organizations. If there
was no union on the campus, they would form a union.
If it was too difficult to form a union, they would form a loose
association in which the common problems might be discussed. They
would attach themselves or form some connection with the youth, the
young people, with the students on the campus.
If there was a parents' organization, they would join the parents'
organization. They would discuss their meetings and how to function
in each of the organizations attached to the college. Some of them
would be used for special work by the party. Some might be used for
special work in writing, doing research work for the party. The
party has to get out a lot of literature. Much of the research was
work done by the members on the campus to be sent in and used as
the party saw fit.
If the party wanted to issue something on the monetary system or
on the question of immigration, or some other question or whatever
it might be, the people who were specialists on tlie college campus
were asked to send in research material.
Mr. KuNziG. How would the Communist professor attempt to
influence students and other people ?
Dr. DoDD. Well, as I said before, communism is a way of life, and it
is almost like a religion. It becomes a part of you. It affects your
entire thinking. It affects your attitude toward your students, toward
your government, affects your attitude toward things that are hap-
pening day by day. Most Communist college professors begin by being
very much interested in their students, and if they have a Conmiunist
philosophy, they pass it on.
Many of them try to influence their students to become Communists.
Any number of students have become Communists because they ad-
mired a professor who was going in that direction. Then he func-
tions within all the other organizations on the campus in affecting
their thinking, the question of choosing books for the libraiy, the
question of establishing curricula for the college.
For instance, if you go through the catalogs of various colleges of
America, you find from the period of 1925 to about 1948 or 1949 that
most of the colleges, for instance, have dropped all their courses on
ethics or religion; you will find most of the colleges dropped their
courses — even the law schools dropped their courses — on constitutional
law. That is a strange kind of thing, even in New York State. Many
law schools dropped the courses on constitutional law.
Mr. ScHERER. I didn't know that.
Dr. DoDD. That is true. That change in curriculum is an interest-
ing thing because it changes your method of approach. If your
law schools drop their courses on constitutional law, how much more
do the liberal arts colleges do it ? Within the Constitution, within the
Bill of Rights, we are very fortunate in that they were written at a
particular time by a particular group of men. We have the whole
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1769
genius of the American type of government. Unless the American
people understand it and appreciate it, they can't fight to defend it.
When the Communists come along with something that seems so
superior, they have nothing with which to oppose it.
Mr. Clardy. You say some of the law schools you are acquainted
with in New York have actually dropped the study of constitutional
law?
Dr. DoDD. In most places, it was not a compulsory part of the
curriculum.
Mr. Clardy. It is compulsory in the school I graduated from at
Ann Arbor.
Dr. DoDD. It wasn't compulsory in the school I went to.
You will be interested in noting the catalogs about eithics, courses
on religion, courses on the Bible ; they have practically been dropped
out of the college curricula.
It is a method of despiritualizing the American people.
Mr. Clardy. A part of the overall movement ?
Dr. DoDD. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Why are teachers, above all, so desired by communism ?
Dr. DoDD. Well, I guess the Communists know that the old people
living in America today are not going to make the revolution. They
are not the people who are going to count. They count on the young
people, and those who control the youth are the people who control
the future of this country.
Mr. Clardy. That is the reasoning that Hitler used, isn't it ?
Dr. DoDD. That is the reasoning that any people have who are
out to control.
Mr. Clardy. Seize the minds of the youth, and you will have them
in due course to control the Nation ?
Dr. Dodd. For better or for worse. I am for the Americans seizing
the minds of the youth and giving them standards to live by which
are part of the western culture.
Mr. Clardy. May I ask a question on a related subject? I had
occasion to answer a question on this subject myself, and I would like
to have yours. Do you agi*ee that it would be a wholesome thing if
not only constitutional law and the American system as a whole were
taught, but that the youth were taught all about communism, all
about socialism, all about the various isms, so that they might be
able to draw a real conclusion as to which was the better?
Dr. Dodd. I certainly believe the American people have got to stop
fooling around with just fighting communism in the abstract. They
have got to know what the thing means, why they are against it, and
how to fight it.
Mr. Clardy. Teaching it, not advocating it, of course, but teaching
it so that the pupils from an early age will understand what it is
all about, would be one of the most effective ways of combating it,
don't you think?
Dr. Dodd. I think it is absolutely essential. Wlien 37 people out
of 100 are living in a Communist regime, certainly we ought to know
what it means and our people ought to understand it and pose it
against the things we believe.
Mr. Clardy. I learned one thing in the hearings at Los Angeles
that still has me staggered. It was to the effect that the Communists
1770 COMMLGSriST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
actually took nursery rhymes and treated them to follow the party lines
so they might seize the mind of youth even in the kindergarten
stage ?
Dr. DoDD. That is not unusual, is it? After all, if you are going to
seize the minds of children, you seize them as early as possible.
That is one of the things the Communists have done. I am for
nursery schools for working women, certainly, but the Communists
have come out with a program for nursery schools for everyone.
In the nursery schools, you begin by affecting the children by
emphasizing material values. You eliminate, for instance, from the
nursery school rhymes and anything that has to do with religion. At
Cliristmas you deal with Christmas as a pagan holiday. You choose
the rhymes, choose the activities, and you follow the educational
philosophy which says the child is just a blank page. He learns only
by doing. You adopt that philosophy and implement it.
Mr. Clardy. The party is dedicated, then, from the beginning, to
destroying all belief in God, all belief in religion, all belief in man's
right to be an individual, in fact, just destroying everything that we
think is worthwhile in life ?
Dr. DoDD. There is no doubt about the fact that the first enerny of
the Communist is a belief in the fact that you are created by a Divine
Creator. That they have to get rid of before anything else. If they
can wipe that out, then it is easy, because if you don't believe in a
God, all you believe in is better material advancement, and the Com-
munists promise greater material advancement for all.
Mr. ScHERER. Because we believe in America as so stated, our in-
alienable rights come from the Creator ?
Dr. DoDD. That is right.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, teachers, then, obviously play an important
part in the Communist scheme of things in teaching youth. Contrary-
wise, do teachers as such, intellectual people as such, do they play an
important part in the higher realms of party control ? In other words,
do they want such people there, or do they not want such people there ?
Dr. Dodd. Well, there are a few teachers who become topnotch party
leaders.
Mr. KuNziG. Such as yourself ?
Dr. Dodd. But, by and large, teachers are used. Intellectuals are
used because the Communist Party distrusts all bourgeois education.
They would much prefer to take a man who has had a third or fourth
grade education, send him to a national training school of the Com-
munist Party, and give him the slogans and the ideologies of Marxism
and Leninism and have him become the important person who becomes
the leader of the party.
While they use it all the time, they are contemptuous of bourgeois
education. Very few from the intellectual groups become leaders of
the Communist Party. In 1935, I was a member of the cadre com-
mittee ; a cadre committee.
Mr. Clardy. What is that name?
Dr. Dodd. Cadre committee. That committee was supposed to
screen all the past leadership and decide whether they should remain
as leaders or not. I was a young person and put on that committee;
I don't know why; just nominated from the floor, and when we went
through the list of people who came before us, I was aghast when each
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES EST THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1771
one repeated tlie same type of story : "My mother took in washing," or,
"My family was poor,"
They made themselves poor. They said they were poor, that they
only went to the third grade, "but I became a leader." If you had an
education, you really became a little embarrassed about it.
I remember at that time asking Alexander Trachtenberg about this
phenomena, and he said that was just so much talk, that Stalin studied
for the priesthood, and Lenin was a lawyer. That gave me a sense of
the dishonesty of it, then, that they would constantly belittle them-
selves to emphasize the fact that proletarians were capable of rising to
leadership.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you try to infiltrate not only teachers in universi-
ties and also infiltrate teachers' schools — in other words, teachers who
taught the teachers ?
Dr. DoDD. The rule was, wherever possible, you made contacts and
you tried to place people into positions of influence.
Communists don't like to be in jobs which don't have influence.
They don't like ordinary workers' jobs.
Mr. Clardy. They are seeking after power, aren't they ?
Dr. DoDD. Yes. Teachers' institutions are very powerful institu-
tions because if you are teaching teachers, and they go out and teach
others, the realm of your influence is very great.
Mr. Clardy. That sucker list theory, just expanded?
Dr. DoDD. That is right.
Mr. KuNziG. I would like to ask you a personal question, if I may,
Dr. Dodd, to this effect : You talked previously about how Communist
teachers influence their students. Do you feel that you yourself as a
Communist teacher influenced students?
Dr. Dodd. There is no doubt in my mind that I influenced students.
I was teaching economics; I was teaching political science, history.
These are subjects which are very easily influenced by a Marxist-
Leninist approach. I was teaching during the period of the depres-
sion, and during that period the Communists said the reason for the
depression was the breakdown in the capitalist system and the only
thing which would obviate any future depressions would be elimina-
tion of the system. Change the system, and you would have no more
depressions.
Unfortunately, there were no other answers being given at the time.
The Communist answer was the easiest answer to give. It was easy
to just push the students in that direction.
Mr. Clardy. Wouldn't you say. Doctor, that it is just simply impos-
sible for a genuine Communist to divide himself, more or less, and
isolate the Communist thinking from his other thinking when he goes
into the classroom?
Dr. Dodd. It is impossible for him to divide himself. He is a Com-
munist primarily.
Mr. Clardy. When he goes in the classroom, he is entirely a Com-
munist and anything he thinks is bound to influence what he does and
says about things, isn't it ?
Dr. Dodd. And what he influences the students to do.
Mr. ScHERER. He can't teach objectively ?
Dr. Dodd. It is impossible. You talk to your students; you can't
tear yourself apart.
1772 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, if I might suggest it, this might be
a ^ood moment for a break.
Mr. ScHERER. We will recess, then, gentlemen, until 1 : 30.
(Thereupon, at 12:20 p. m., the hearing was recessed to reconvene
at 1 : 30 p. m. same day.)
AFl'ERNOON SESSION
(At the hour of 1 :45 p. m., of the same day, the proceedings were
resumed, the same parties being present.)
TESTIMONY OF BELLA V. DODD— Eesumed
Mr. ScHERER. The committee will be in session.
You may proceed, Mr. Counsel, with the witness.
Mr. KuNziG. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Docld, you were talking before about the Communist purpose,
what they do. Could you describe further the Communist sense of
participation for world good, so to speak ; how they are led into this
type of thinking and their belief in what they themselves are doing ?
Dr. DoDD. Well, the Communist movement does give to the indi-
vidual person who feels sort of lost in this world a sense of participa-
tion in something which is much bigger than himself. He has a sense
of belonging to a world movement so that if the Chinese are making
a revolution he feels a part of that Chinese movement. He not only
feels a part of it but he pledges his own loyalty and his own support.
This is one of the explanations why the Communist movement has
grown so rapidly among people, particularly among people who are
dispossessed, people who do not feel a part of things in this world,
people who have given up any real belief in a fundamental philosophy
of life or religion. They give themselves a sense of participation in
great things in the world.
Mr. KuNziG. If they feel they are doing great things and good
things — and everyone likes to feel that what he is doing is good —
how does a Communist interpret the millions of people in concen-
tration camps under the heel of the Russian Government?
Dr. DoDD. Mr. Counselor, I want to assure you that genuine Com-
munists don't believe that. They believe that is nothing but propa-
ganda issued by the imperialists or capitalists. They do not believe
there are any people in the concentration camps of the Soviet Union.
If you brought them statistics, they wouldn't believe it. They believe
only their own propagandists, or those who will make statements sim-
ilar to their own propagandists.
Mr. Clardy. Even when Dave Dallin or someone comes from Rus-
sia and tells them ?
Dr. DoDD. One of the sorriest examples I can give you is myself.
As late as 1949, I was asked the question, "How about the people in
the concentration camps in Russia?"
I said, "I am not aware of the fact that there are concentration
camps in Russia. I don't know."
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, having been, as you just said, a personal
victim of the Communist conspiracy, what would be your message
of warning to the teachers of this Nation on this problem?
Dr. DoDD. I have a great deal of respect for both the public and
private schools of America. American education, by and large, has
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1773
given us a wonderful body of people, trained and skilled to make
the wonders of American industry.
I think, however, that the American teachers have to understand
that education must have a basic philosophy and they must themselves
drink deep of the political genuis of America as embodied in the
Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
They must have a philosophy consonant with the Hebraic-Christian
tradition, which has been the basis of western civilization. I think
teachers must understand that they are the guardians of America's
future; and, by and large, I think the teachers have been fulfilling
and will fulfill this duty. The unusual persons in their midst who get
trapped in the Communist conspiracy, they must recognize, they must
label, and they must help that person as a person.
I don't mean that the teachers on the campus are to hurt the Com-
munist teachers, but they must label them so that they are out in the
open. That is the thing which the teachers of America can do. They
know who the Communists are on the campus. They know better
than any investigating committee could ever know. They are the
ones Avho can avert this great clanger which faces America.
Mr. KuNziG. But, at least to all signs at present, they have not done
it, have they ?
Mr. DoDD. Well, it is an uneven thing. In some communities they
have, and in other communities they have not. In some communities
they have allowed themselves to be pulled into a group whom they call
"liberals" ; and, on the ground of the right of every j)erson to believe
as he sees fit, they have allowed themselves to become supporters of the
very members of this conspiracy.
This is not liberalism, not liberalism in the finest sense of the word.
This is just allowing the Communist to pull them into a propaganda
environment which says that "anyone who is close to the Communist
is a liberal. I do not believe that is the definition of "a liberal."
A liberal is a person who believes in the right of the individual to
function. The Communist does not believe in the right of the indi-
vidual. They believe only in the right of the collective. The individ-
ual is only part of a collective group, and whenever he doesn't move
according to the collective he is ousted from the group.
Mr. KuNziG. So you would say that when so-called liberals today,
self-denominated liberals, support and work with the Communist
program, they are being deluded into thinking they are helping a
liberal cause when it is not liberal.
Dr. DoDD. One of the great tragedies today is that these Americans
do not realize that this would take civilization back to a barbarism
which existed long before the Christian era.
Mr. KuNziG. I wanted to ask you a little bit about another country
which I always felt personally was one of the greatest free countries
in Europe, and that is the country of Czechoslovakia. Certainly it
was one of the finest democracies in the world at one time, was it not?
Mr. DoDD. Yes, and took many of its ideas from the American
Constitution.
Mr. KuNziG. That country was formed in Philadelphia in front of
our Liberty Bell in the days of President Wilson.
That country fell. I wanted to ask you whether you feel that
America might some day succumb to the same type of thinking that
1774 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
commimism hands out unless we are able to break up this thought
that they have.
Dr. DoDD. There is no doubt in my mind that Czechoslovakia didn't
fall before an armed force, but fell because the intellectuals and pro-
fessional groups in Czechoslovakia came to the conclusion that com-
munism was their salvation. They are the ones who opened the door
to the Soviet Union. It is quite possible in the United States to
have — it is not a very difficult thing for a country to fall. It isn't a
question — we must get away from the idea that a country falls by guns
alone. A country falls when we adopt Communist ideas and move
in the direction of communism. The battle for America is house by
house, street by street, city by city. It is a question of asking our-
selves what ideas and ideals are we living by ?
" The Communists have a way of changing names and labels. When
the old names become discredited, they change these names. They
change the name of the Communist Party. In some South American
countries, you have any number of parties that do not go under the
name of Communist Party.
How shall we recognize them, then ? We can only recognize them
by the fact that they believe that there is no God ; that a person is just
born, grows, dies, decays, and that is the end. They believe that the
individual doesn't matter; that the collective matters. They believe
that certain people should have the power to run a country.
Wlien these principles are evident, no matter what labels they are
under, we recognize them as signs of communism. It is not up to the
teachers alone, but to each father and mother. Each person within
our country has the job of defeating Communist ideas. It is up to
Congress to ferret out the organized agents of communism. It is up to
our FBI to do that. The rest of us have the job of building a strong
America, strengthening the family life, strengthening the virtues of
the individual.
If you have a strong family life, and you obliterate some of the
social inequities that exist, and I want to add that, because I think
the Communists feed upon social inequities; whenever there is injus-
tice, discrimination, against a Jewish person, foreign born persons or
Negro persons, they grow. It is up to us to eradicate those injustices.
If we do that, we needn't fear communism.
Mr. KuNziG. I wondered, Dr. Dodd, if you possibly recall an ex-
perience you had recently at the University of Connecticut with re-
gard to this situation you had there ? Do you want to tell the com-
mittee that? It was with regard to what happened to a boy in
Czechoslovakia.
Dr. DoDD. I didn't know you heard that story. I was at the Uni-
versity of Connecticut not long ago, and I had a lot of questions
asked me pro and con. Many of the people were saying, "How about
freedom of thought and so on?"
After answering the questions to the best of my ability for about
an hour and a half, a boy got up. He had on a leather jacket. In
rather broken English, he said, "You fellows here at the university
are speaking exactly as we talked in Czechoslovakia 5 years ago. It
is too late for us, but it isn't too late for you."
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, I wanted to ask you if you would read to
the committee and into the record from a publication called The Com-
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1775
munist, the theoretical magazine of the Communist Party, an article
written in 1937 at the time the Teachers' Union was at its peak, an
article called, The Schools Are the People's Front. This was written
by a man called Eichard Frank. If you have no copy, I have one here.
I wanted to ask you if you would give the committee the exact words
from this article to show what the viewpoint of the Communist is.
Dr. DoDD. This was an article written by a young Communist who
was recruited from the University of Virginia and who became a func-
tionary of the Commiuiist Party. This article was written in 1937,
in the magazine called The Communist, which was the theoretical
organ for the Communist Party.
This had to do with the duties and functions of the teachers in edu-
cation— Connnunist teachers in the educational system.
Mr. KuNziG. That is why I think it is important to present this to
the committee.
Dr. DoDD. These are just excerpts from it.
That which is most immediately apparent to anyone who studies public edu-
cation must be the fact that the public school system is part of the state ma-
chinery, and the function of the state machinery being to subjugate the pro-
letarian and the toiling masses in general to the rule of the bourgeoisie, the role
of the public school system cannot be isolated from this general function of
the capitalist state.
This merely means that the Communists believe that our Govern-
men is the instrument of class domination. That the rule is made by
the employers, not by the employees ; by the owners of the property,
but not by those who are without property, and therefore, the schools^
being a part of the state apparatus are also instruments of oppres-
sing the proletariat.
On the next page, Frank says —
Because of the economic hardships of their home life, the majority of the
children develop a feeling of hatred for the bourgeois public school system. This
hatred develops that spirit of rebelliousness which is to be found in every public
schoolroom.
The rebelliousness of the school children directed against a part of the state
machinery itself is something that Communists cannot afford to ignore. This,
together with their desire for knowledge and social life, must form the start-
ing point for our work among the students in the schools. The problem is
rather how to guide and direct that spirit of rebelliousness which already
exists.
And then, of course, he makes certain recommendations, that we
ought to get the student into the Young Communist League.
The Young Communist League must endeavor to raise the spirit of rebellion
found among school children to a level of higher consciousness by educating the
student on the l)asis of their own experience to a realization of the class basis
for the oppressive nature of the schools and to a realization of how the school
system under a workers' and farmers' government would deal with the immediate
problems of the majority of students, imparting to them, with the utmost solici-
tude for their own interests, that warm and friendly culture of their own class.
In other words, this emphasizes the class structure thesis of the Com-
munists. Then, he goes on to say —
The task of the Communist Party must be first and foremost to arouse the
teachers to class consciousness and to organize them into the union.
Communist teachers are therefore faced with a tremendous social responsi-
bility. They must consider not merely their own teaching problems, but the
problems of the children. They must take advantage of their position without
exposing themselves, to give their students, to the best of their ability, the
working-class education.
1776 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, how much money, may I ask, did you earn
with the party ?
Dr. Dodd. Well, I think
Mr. KuNziG. Per week or per month ?
Dr. Dodd. One of the things Americans must understand, the large
number of Americans that get "sucked" into the Communist Party, do
it through idealism. I was an instructor at Hunter College when I
resigned. I resigned because I wanted to go into the labor movement.
I went in the Teachers' Union and I received $60 a week. I never
took more than $60 a week for all the 8 or 9 years I was with the
Teachers' Union. When I was asked to serve as the legislative repre-
sentative of the Communist Party, I received the sum of $50 a week
as pay, and that was $42 a week take-home pay. You may say,
"Weren't you foolish, with your education, to take that kind of
money?"
We weren't doing it for pay. We were doing it because we really
believed in it. That doesn't close my eyes to the fact that there were
people in the party who were getting a great many economic advan-
tages by being in the party because salaries were uneven. It depended
upon what your needs were or what the party leaders thought your
needs were. The more idealistic you were, the more they kept you
in this stage. That was the reason why we took the salary we did.
Most of the men who worked in the party worked for very low salaries.
Mr. KuNziG. Doctor, while you were a member of the National
Committee of the Communist Party, were you ever sent around the
United States to coordinate the units by settling strifes or things that
may have been evident, and if so, were you ever sent to Ohio?
Dr. Dodd. Yes; I was in Ohio in early 1945 or late 1944. I was a
member of the national committee. I was sent to Cleveland and
within about 75 or a hundred mile radius, I stopped in the various
places where the party was having problems and tried to coordinate,
tried to eliminate strife, and tried to clarify the line for them.
At that time, we were just at the end of the war period and beginning
this new postwar era, and the party was uncertain as to what line we
should follow. This was just before we got the Duclos letter and
much strife had risen in the party at that time. It was my duty to
talk to party functionaries, to party union leaders, and to various
other functionaries of the party.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Dodd, Herbert Philbrick, who was an undercover
agent of the FBI, testified the Communist Party ordered the members
in Avhite-collar positions, to seek employment in factories. This has
been followed, obviously, because Communist investigations have
shown some individuals who were proven Communists were holders
of Ph. D.'s, for example, and were working in factory assembly lines.
Can you explain this situation?
Dr. Dodd. Well, I tell you, the directions of the party differed. In
general, the party tried to proletarianize the educated members of
the party. They tried to get them to feel like workers, to be with
the workers and to actually live the life of the w^orkers, but at the
same time, the party selected certain of the intellectuals to go into
higher positions.
Let me assure you that just as many Communists as you had going
down into tlie ranks of the workers, you also had many people who
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1777
were being put into very elegant situations, I mean Communists who
were very comfortable in dinner jackets and in high society.
In other words, the party knew how to distribute its forces, but in
general, they attempted to proletarianize their white-collar workers,
feeling that they had nothing to lose but their chains, feeling that
they had more in common with the workers of the world than with
citizens within their own country.
Mr. KuNziG. I would like to have you remove a doubt in case any
exists as to the fact that a majority of the teachers support commu-
nism. Of course, that isn't so. I would like to have you comment
on that.
Dr. DoDD. There are many teachei-s in America, and 99.99 are
against conmiunism if they knoAv anything about it, and they are
loyal Americans. The small percentage who are Communists are
effective because they are so well organized, so well sychronized and
that is the group we want to reach.
Mr. KuNziG. I certainly hope and I feel sure that your testimony
here today will reach many of these people and make them realize the
problems of communism.
I have no further questions.
Mr. SciiERER. Mr. Clardy, do you have any questions ?
Mr. Clardy. No, I do not.
I want to present to you, Mrs. Dodd, the feeling which I have which
I am sure is reflected by other members of the committee. I think
you have made an important contribution to the committee's work,
the work of the Congress in combatting this evil of communism.
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Walter.
Mr. Walter. I want to join with my colleague, Mr. Clardy, but I
think you have done more than that. I think your contribution to-
day has been equal to that, perhaps, of a division of American soldiers
in this fight against communism, and I only hope that what you have
done, which wasn't easy, I know, will give enough courage- to other
educated people, so that they will do what must be done.
Mr. ScHERER. Dr. Dodd, my two colleagues have expressed very
ably the sentiments of the committee, and I want to thank you for
coming here.
You are discharged from further attendance under the subpena.
Mr. Kunzig, do you have another witness ?
Mr. Kunzig. The next witness I would like to call is Dr. Luxon.
Mr. ScHERER. Will you raise your hand and be sworn ?
Do you solemnlj' swear that the testimony you shall give to this sub-
committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you God.
Mr. I uxoN. I do.
Mr. Kunzig. Dr. Luxon, will you give your full name ?
TESTIMONY OF NORVAL NEIL LUXON
Dr. Luxon. Norval Neil Luxon.
Mr. Kunzig. AVliat is your address ?
Dr. LuxoN. 82 West Dominion Boulevard, Columbus.
Mr. Kunzig. Dr. Luxon, where are you employed, sir ?
Dr. Luxon. Ohio State University.
Mr. Kunzig. In what capacity ?
1778 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Dr. LuxoN. Assistant to the president and professor of journalism.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you have occasion recently to be present at a hear-
ing given to Dr. Darling by the officers and officials of Ohio State
University ?
Mr. Clardy. Before he answers, I think we should make it abun-
dantly clear that he is called before the committee for a technical pur-
pose, and since he is not accompanied by counsel, that fact should also
be on the record.
Mr. KuNziG. I take it you are willing to testify without counsel ?
Dr. LuxoN. I am perfectly willing.
Mr. Clardy. We appreciate that, sir.
Mr. KuNziG. Were you present at the hearing ?
Dr. LuxON. I was one of the 7 observers ; 3 faculty members and 4
members of the president's office that President Bevis asked to sit with
him on the hearing for Dr. Darling.
Mr. KuNziG. You were subpenaed to come here today; is that
correct ?
Dr. LuxON. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. And you were subpenaed duces tecum, to bring with
you the transcript of that hearing ?
Dr. LuxoN. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Do you have that with you ?
Dr. LuxoN. I have it here.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, I would like to have this transcript
marked "Exhibit No. 1, Darling Exhibit No. 1," and offer same into
evidence in this hearing.
Mr. ScHERER. It will be so marked and so received.
(Darling exhibit No. 1 was marked for identification and received
in evidence.)
Mr. KuNziG. Am I correct in assuming that this transcript which is
Darling Exhibit No. 1 is the exact transcript of what happened at
that hearing?
Dr. LuxoN. I would say it is as exact as humanly possible.
Mr. Clardy. If there are any errors, they have not been called to
your attention ?
Dr. LuxoN. Well, there were two words in there that, even though
we played the tape over about 30 times, neither the head of our record-
ing studio nor I could make out the words, and so we marked them
"indistinguishable."
. In several of the long statements, what is in the transcript is directly
from the typed script which was read by the witnesses,
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Luxon, do you know a James C. Harris, who is
apparently an assistant professor of physics ?
Dr. LuxoN. I know him casually as I know many of our faculty
members. I speak to him, see him in the faculty club.
Mr. KuNziG. Is there a James C. Harris who is an assistant profes-
sor of physics ?
Dr. LuxoN. Yes ; there is.
Mr. KuNziG. At Ohio State?
Dr. LuxoN. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Harris— Professor Harris — is apparently on a
trip to Europe and won't be here to testify today, but I wanted to ask
you whetlier Professor Harris was present at this hearing along with
Professor Darling?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1779
Dr. LuxoN. He was present at the April 4 part of the hearing when
Professor Darling was accompanied by his attorney, Joseph Forer.
Mr. KuNziG. Of Washington, D. C. ?
Dr. LuxoN. Yes, Washington, D. C, and the president invited Dr.
Darling to be present with counsel and bring whomever he wished.
At the April 2 hearing, Dr. Darling appeared alone and made an
appeal for a delay. We gave him a 48-hour postponement, and when
he appeared Saturday morning he was accompanied by Mr. Forer,
and by Professor Harris.
Mr. KuNziG. Are you familiar with a mimeographed document
which was circulated throughout Columbus and the Ohio State Uni-
versity and also other universities signed by James C. Harris, ac-
companied by a mimeographed statement marked "Darling State-
ment," unsigned, and not mentioning Darling's name ? Have you seen
that ? I understand it is an actual part of the record of that hearing ?
Dr. Luxox. Only a part of it is a part of the hearing. The dis-
tribution of that statement was made to only a certain selected few
faculty members. Many faculty members did not get it. No one in
the administration got it except in some cases, some of our friends
brought it to us, and I know there is such a document. If you have it
there, I can identify it.
Mr. ScHEEER. Please have it identified.
Mr. KuNziG. I have a document here, Mr. Chairman, marked
"Darling Exhibit No. 2" for identification. I would like now to
have this handed to the witness and see if he can identify it as the
statement about which we are talking.
Dr. LuxoN. Well, just in running through it hurriedly, it appar-
ently is that document ; yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, investigation by committee investi-
gators has shown that this has been circulated around Ohio State
and other universities. It is pertinent to this case, and I should like
to offer this document which has been marked "Darling Exhibit
No. 2" for identification, into evidence as Darling exhibit No. 2.
Mr. ScHERER. It will be so received.
(Darling exhibt No. 2 for identification was marked and received
in evidence.)
Mr. KuNziG. I have no further questions of this witness.
Mr. Clardt. May I inquire, counsel, if that is the statement that is
read in the evidence and is found in exhibit No. 1 ?
Mr. KuNziG. According to the testimony, only a part of this state-
ment was read in the record.
Mr. Clardt. That is what I understood him to say. I wondered
if I heard correctly.
Mr. KuNziG. Is that correct, Doctor?
Dr. LuxoN. The entire statement which Dr. Darling read in the
closed hearing is a part of this document that he is just asking me
about.
Mr. Clardt. I see, but the document marked "Darling Exhibit No.
2" that he is just inquiring about is not included in its entirety in the
original Darling exhibit No. 1 that you brought to the hearing?
Dr. LuxoN. Oh, no, because the president's office prepared exhibit
No. 1, and this was prepared by — at least, it was signed by Mr. Harris,
a colleague of Dr. Darling.
1780 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. ScHERER. The statement of Dr. Harris, which is part of the
exhibit just presented to yon was one of the things that was not in-
ckidecl in the record which yon — wliich is marked Darling exhibit
No. 1; is that correct? Do you understand my question?
Dr. LuxoN. Yes, I understand it. Without checking the two
against each other, I would not be sure whether the statement of Mr.
Harris is in exhibit 1. As I recall in his testimony, he didn't testify —
in his statement, toward the end of the hearing, he made a very brief
statement and asked a couple of questions. When he circulated this
statement of Dr. Darling which was made in the hearing, he wrote
a letter, what you would normally call a covering letter. That is not
part of exhibit 1.
Mr. ScHERER. That is what I am referring to, the covering letter.
That is not part of exhibit 1 ?
Dr. LuxoN. No, that is not part of exhibit 1.
Mr. ScHERER. Do you have any questions ?
Mr. Clardy. Yes, I do. Was Dr. Darling sworn at any time when
he a]:)peared before the committee and gave the testimony that you
find in exhibit 1 ?
Dr. LuxoN. You mean appeared in the president's office?
Mr. Clardy. Whatever you want to call it.
Dr. LuxoN. No, that was an informal hearing. The president
stated to him, as is shown in the beginning of the transcript, that he
was not under oath. That he could say anything that he wanted to ;
that his friends or his counsel could say anything that they wished.
Mr. Clardy. Were any sworn statements of any kind submitted
at that meeting or that hearing?
Dr. LuxON. No, there are 18 pages of exhibits in the last part of
that transcript, and they are mostly letters, clippings of a newspaper
ad, and other clippings; no sworn statements.
We conducted this as an administrative hearing informally as
a hearing within the walls of the university, just as guidance to the
president, as what to do in the decisions as to whether Dr. Darling
was a fit person to remain a member of the teaching staff.
Mr. Clardy. That was my understanding. We wanted that clear-
ly in the record. Thank you.
Mr. KuNziG. No further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Walter?
Dr. Luxon, thank you very much for coming to testify. You are
excused.
(Wherepon the witness was excused.)
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, at this point, I should like to get per-
mission of the Chair to read into the record the covering letter to
Darling exhibit No. 2, signed by James C. Harris, assistant professor
of physics.
Mr. SciiERER. You may do so.
Mr. KuNziG. The covering letter on the outside of this mimeo-
graphed document, Darling exhibit No. 2, is as follows :
To Our Colleagues at the Ohio State University:
The Darling case is of the greatest importance to the defense of the rights
of teachers, to the cause of academic freedom, and to the safeguarding and
strengthening of the rules of tenure. In this regard, I respectfully submit with
Professor Darling's approval the following facts on the case to our colleagues
in order that they may be informed of the issue to be met.
James C. Harris,
Assistaiit Professor of Physics.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1781
Then follows this lengthy docnment of the statement, presumably,
by Professor Darling, but I may add, sir, that there is no signature
on this wliatsoever.
Mr. ScHERER. The statement is designated "Darling statement,"
is it not ?
Mr. KuNziG. Yes, sir; printed and typed at the top is "Darling
statement"; those words.
Mr. ScHERER. ]\Iay I ask if you compared that statement in the
exhibit from which you are reading with the statement made by Dr.
Darling as shown by the transcript of the record of his hearing at
Ohio State University which is exhibit 1 ?
Mr. KuNziG. I believe, sir, they are not word for word.
Mr. ScHERER. They are not word for word?
Mr. KuNziG. We have not compared them completely word for word.
I have just gotten this here.
Mr. Clardy, You just saw No. 1 a few minutes ago ?
Mr. KuNziG. And No. 2.
Mr. Clardy. You have seen another copy of Darling exhibit No. 2
before coming here, I take it?
Mr. KuNziG. Just a moment.
I would like, sir, now, to ask permission to read into the record a
letter from exhibit No. 1 which is the transcript. There are 2 letters ;
1 on page 40 and 1 on page 41 of the transcript. They are both
addressed to Professor Williams here, and they are signed by Lloyd
C. Emmons, and I should like to ask Congressman Clardy if he could
explain for the record who Lloyd C. Emmons is.
Mr. Clardy. Well, he was dean at the college in my hometown,
Michigan State College, for many years, one of the most respected
members of the faculty, a personal friend of mine, one whose word
is as good as gold.
Mr. KuNziG,. From the record, then, sir, with yoiu- permission, may
I read?
Mr. ScHERER. You may.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Williams testified :
I gathered from this he had heen a dean of some kind and is now on the
athletic council. Both of these letters are dated March 24, 1953, and I re-
quested these later than I did the letter from the physics department, because
I thought that the physics department letters were more pertinent to our own
problems here, and they were more recent and more recent information.
"Dear Professor Wiliams : I am glad to make this statement concerning the
experience with Dr. B. T. Darling while he \\as a member of our staff. He
came here on a temporary 8 months' appointment effective April 1, 193'.), and
he remained with us for an additional year until August 31, 1941. Dr. Darling
had a good background of mathematics training and exhibited a thorough
knowledge of his subject. The only criticism we had of him while he was
here was that he was a bit irresponsible in looking after details that must be
attended to by any staff member. We were not unhappy when he decided to
seek employment elsewhere.
"Very truly yours,
"Lloyd C. Emmons."
Then he [Dr. Williams] goes on to say :
In the same envelope is another letter which should be made a part of the
record here. This letter is as follows :
"Dear Professor Williams : I am enclosing a letter of the type that I might
have written for a year or two after Dr. Darling left us.
"In the next year or two following that, I had submitted to me information
from some alumni who had known him quite well and who now, as teachers,
35663—53 4
1782 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES EST THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
felt that they should furnish me with certain information, since they did not
know that Mr. Darling had left Michigan State College. I cannot give you the
names of these people, due to the fact that the records in my office have been
disposed of since I retired from the deanship, but I remember well that there
was a positive statement that Dr. Darling had strong communistic leanings, and
they were willing, if necessary, to testify as to their knowledge about him if
the occasion should arise.
"I am certain you will not care to use this later material, but I thought it in
the interest of completeness you should know about it.
"Sincerely yours,
"Lloyd C. Emmons."
This may have been a breach of confidence, but I feel the department should
put all the evidence at the disposal of the president and therefore, I should
like to present these letters.
That concludes the portion that I should like to read from Darling
exhibit No. 1.
Mr. ScHERER. At this point, I would like to make a statement for
the record.
When Dr. Darling testified before the Un-American Activities
Committee in Washington on Friday, March 13 of this year, among
the questions asked him and the answers given were the following :
Question by Mr. Kunzig :
At the time the Air Force invited you to go to its conference, was that after
the time you left Michigan State?
Mr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Walter. Professor, you say you were invited through the Air Force.
Who extended the invitation?
Mr. Darling. Well, as I recall, it was Mr. Chapman.
Mr. Walter. Do you know what his first name was?
Mr. Darling. No, I don't know his first name.
Mr. Walter. What position did he hold in the Air Force?
Mr. Darling. I don't know that.
Mr. Walter. Was he a civilian employee of the Air Force?
Mr. Darling. Yes, I believe he was.
Mr. Walter. Where did you meet him. Professor?
Mr. Darling. I met him at Ohio State University.
Mr. Walter. Who introduced you to him?
Mr. Darling. Let's see ; I don't know whether it was Professor Neilsen or
Professor Williams. I don't recollect, Mr. Walter.
Mr. Walter. Were either of those professors members of the Commimist
Party?
Mr. Darung. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
The reasons Dr. Darling had previously given in his testimony were
that to answer such a question might tend to incriminate him.
From this testimony, it is obvious that Mr. Walter of the committee
should have asked Dr. Darling who introduced him to Mr. Chapman,
since Dr. Darling could not remember Mr. Chapman's first name.
When Dr. Darling said it was either a Professor Neilsen or a Pro-
fessor Williams who introduced him to this man Chapman, it was
proper for Mr. Walter, who at that time had never heard of these
professors, to ask Dr. Darling if they were members of the Communist
Party.
When Dr. Darling refused to answer this question on the ground
that, to do so might incriminate him, he did a serious injustice to
both of these Ohio State professors.
It is the keenest desire of the committee that no adverse reflection
of any kind attach to either Professor H. H. Neilsen, or Professor Dud-
ley Williams as the result of Dr. Darling's testimony. Therefore,
our staff has carefully checked the committee's records, and I am
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1783
pleased to report that it has found nothing which might in any way
reflect upon the loyalty or professional ability of these two Ohio
State professors.
I might also add that the committee has received the utmost coopera-
tion from the president and the board of trustees of Ohio State
University. This investigation of two individuals who were em-
ployed at the university, one of whom was also working on a project
from the United States Air Force at the same time, should not cast
any adverse reflection whatsoever on the university. In fact, Ohio
State, as we all know, is one of the truly great universities of this
country.
Mr. Counsel, your next witness.
Mr. Clardt. Before you do that, I think I ought to add, Mr.
Chairman, the fact that since I was present at that original hearing,
I had absolutely now knowledge, of course, of either of the gentle-
men members of this faculty who were mentioned and while I didn't
inquire about it, it was merely because my colleague, Mr. Walter,
asked the question first. They were questions that necessarly needed
to be asked, but I also am thoroughly convinced, as is the entire com-
mittee, that a great injustice was done in bringing these names in,
especially when the witness had refused under all circumstances to
give us the names or admit knowledge about a whole host of others.
Why he chose to bring in those names of innocent people, only he can
answer.
Mr. ScHERER. Well, I think what we have said clarifies the record.
You may proceed.
Mr. KuNziG. I should like to call as the next witness, Mr. Chairman,
Mrs. Barbara Darling.
Mr. FoRER. Before we enter appearance, we would like to enter our
objection to the absence of a quorum of the full committee.
Mr. ScHERER. Your objection will be noted.
Mrs. Darling, will you stand and be sworn ?
Do you solemnly swear that the evidence you shall give to this
subcommittee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth, so help you God ?
Mrs. Darling. I do.
Mr. Scherer. Proceed.
Mr. KuNziG. I notice you are accompanied by counsel; will you
state your name for the record ?
Mr. Forer. Joseph Forer.
Mr. KuNziG. Your office address?
Mr. Forer. 711 14th Street NW., Washington, D. C.
Mr. Clardy. You are the same person who appeared before us in
other hearings, in Washington, particularly ?
Mr. Forer. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Would you give your full name for the record, Mrs.
Darling, please ?
TESTIMONY OP BARBAEA ANN DARLING, ACCOMPANIED BY HER
COUNSEL, JOSEPH PORER
Mrs. Darling. My full name is Mrs. Barbara Ann Darling.
Mr, Kunzig. What is your address ?
Mrs. Darling. Temporarily at 59 West Ninth Avenue, Columbus.
1784 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. KuNZiG. Could you give the committee a resume of your educa-
tional background ?
Mrs. Darling. Starting when ?
Mr. KuNziG. Well, starting from high school.
Mrs. Darling. I attended high school in Frontenac, Kans., for S
years. The last year, I spent at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg,
Kans.
I attended Kansas State Teachers College.
Mr. KuNziG. What year was that ?
Mrs. Darling. I don't recall the year ; it has been so long ago.
Mr. KuNziG. I am sure not that long ago ?
Mrs. Darling. Well, let me think. Possibly around in the sum-
mer of 1936. However, I don't believe that I finished the quarter
there, due to financial difficulties. Therefore, I don't think that they
have a record of my having attended. I don't know about that.
Mr. KuNziG. Would you continue with your educational back-
ground ?
Mrs. Darling. Following that, I went to the University of Wiscon-
sin. That was in the beginning — bygmning in the fall of 1946. I
spent two semesters there, and then transferred to the Ohio State
University in the fall quarter of 1947.
I was at the Ohio State University from 1947 to 1951, with the ex-
ception of one spring quarter which I spent at Mexico City College.
That was the spring quarter of 1950. I received a bachelor of arts
degree cum laude from the Ohio State University in the spring quar-
ter of 1951.
Mr. KuNziG. Does that conclude your formal education ?
Mrs. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Kunzig. Now, could you give us a detailed account of your
employment record, where you have worked, giving us the dates, if
you please, as you go along, to the best of your recollection.
Mrs. Darling. As nearly as I can recollect, I worked in Chicago
for the F. W. Wool worth Co. and for Marshall Field for a while,
for the Walgreen Drug Store, and for the Montgomery Ward central
time payment office in the Merchandise Mart there. Then I moved to
Detroit, Mich.
Mr Kunzig. When was that?
Mrs. Darling. It seems to me that that was in 1937, in the latter part
of the year, and I was employed at the L. A. Young Co. there, and I
worked there only, I would say, about a month and a half. I was not
familiar with the layoffs, and so forth, the very frequent layoffs that
occur in the automotive industry, so I was laid off, having been one of
the last employed by that company. Then I worked wherever I could
get a job, in supermarkets
Mr. Kunzig. Wliere?
Mrs. Darling. Supermarkets, working in supermarkets, in drug
stores, and then I was employed with the Bull Dog Electric Co.
Mr. Kunzig. Wlien was it you were employed by the Bull Dog
Electric Co?
Mrs. Darling. I don't recall the year at all.
Mr. Kunzig. Was it 1945, 1950- can you approximate?
Mrs. Darling. No, it was possibly around 1939 or 1940, perhaps.
Mr. Kunzig. I see, you are taking this in chronological order, I
assume ?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1785
Mrs. Darling. Yes; I can remember the places I worked chrono-
logically, but I was never concerned about the dates when I worked
some place. I didn't think it would ever be important to remember
that, so I have not kept these things in mind.
After that, I was employed by the United Electrical, Radio and
Machine Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations.
Mr. Clardy. Pardon ; I heard you name the union, but I didn't get
all of it, or what you were doing. Would you repeat that for me?
Mrs. Darling. Yes, I will be glad to. It is the United Electrical,
Radio and Machine Workers of America.
Mr. Clardy. You were employed in what capacity ?
Mrs. Darling. As a field organizer by that organization.
Mr. Clardy, Can you give us some approximation of the time ?
Mrs. Darling. The time, I would say it was possibly late in 1942
or early in 1943.
Mr. Clardy. This vras in Detroit ?
Mrs. Darling. That is right.
Mr. KuNziG. How long were you working with the UE?
Mrs. Darling. Again, I don't recall the exact date. I would say
it — I worked there possibly up to around 1944 or 1945.
Mr. Kunzig. Who was your district director, if you recall ?
Mrs. Darling. District director?
Mr. Kunzig. Yes.
Mrs. Darling. I don't know if we had an office of that nature.
Mr. Kunzig. Do you recall who was your direct employer ?
Mrs, Darling. The international union.
Mr. Kunzig. The name of the person under whom you worked
directly.
Mrs. Darling. Well, I was employed by the international union in
New York, I think it is located.
Mr. Kunzig. You had no single boss over you, so to speak, anywhere
along the line ?
Mrs. Darling. Not that I recall. We were responsible to' the
international union.
Mr. Kunzig. You just walked in and reported somewhere to an
"international union" ? There must have been a person.
Mrs. Darling, We reported our activities to the international union.
Mr. Kunzig. To what person did you report ; the human being ?
Mrs. Darling. Oh, let's see
Mr. ScHERER. Who was your immediate superior ?
Mrs. Darling. I am trying to think. That is what I am trying
to think.
Well, there is an office called secretary and treasurer and then there
is one called organization director. We reported to the organiza-
tional director of the international union.
Mr. Kunzig. And who was that ?
Mrs. Darling. His name, as I recall it now, I believe was Mr. Matles.
Mr. Kunzig. Eben Matles or James Matles ?
Mrs. Darling. James Matles.
Mr. Kunzig. Who, Mrs. Darling, from the Detroit area, recom-
mended that you be placed on the payroll there as an organizer?
Mrs. Darling. I don't recall who recommended me.
1786 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. KuNziG. Would it have been Matles ?
Mrs. Darling. No, I don't think it was.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, you know, of course, that the UE was expelled
from the CIO because of Communist domination, do you not?
Mrs. Darling. I read in the paper that it was expelled from the
CIO.
Mr. Kunzig. That is all you know about it ?
Mrs. Darling. That is all I know about it.
Mr. Kunzig. Would you continue, then, with your record of em-
ployment ? You are up to 1944 or 1945, working for the UE.
Mrs. Darling. Then I went to work as a secretary in the [Interna-
tional] Fur and Leather Workers' Union in Detroit.
Mr. Kunzig. When was that ?
Mrs. Darling. That was after I left the UE and went to work. I
don't remember the exact time it began there, sometime in 1945, I
would say.
Mr. Kunzig. Now, you know, of course, don't you, that the Fur and
Leather Workers' Union also was expelled from the CIO union or
organization ?
Mrs. Darling. I read about that in the papers.
Mr. Kunzig. Do you know any more than just what you read ?
Mrs. Darling. No.
Mr. Clardy. You mean you didn't even hear it talked about in
circles where you were working ?
Mrs. Darling. Well, I was in the university then. I don't re-
member when they were expelled, but I was not working with any
labor organization then. I was a student, I believe, at the university.
If you can tell me what year it was, I can tell you where I was at
the time.
Mr. Kunzig. Mrs. Darling, who was the district director there,
if you remember ?
Mrs. Darling. Where?
Mr. Kunzig. In the Fur and Leather Workers' Union at Detroit.
Mrs. Darling. I don't know that they have an office of district
director.
Mr. Kunzig. You don't know of any ?
Mrs. Darling. No.
Mr. Kunzig. Who was your immediate superior there ?
Mrs. Darling. The head of the office where I was working was Mr.
Harold Shapiro.
Mr. Kunzig. Do you know Harold Shapiro to be a Communist
Party member ?
Mrs. Darling. I did not.
Mr. Kunzig. Did you know a Ben Gold ?
Mrs. Darling. No, I don't know him personally. He is, though, the
president — he was at that time the president of the Fur and Leather
Workers Union.
Mr. Kunzig. When were you married, Mrs. Darling?
Mr. Forer. Do you mean to Mr. Darling?
Mr, Kunzig. If there was a previous marriage, give us the date and
your name under that marriage.
Mrs. Darling. I don't know that that is important.
Mr. Kunzig. I am sorry ; I can't hear you.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1787
Mrs. Darling. I don't know that the name is important of that
marriage.
Mr. KuNziG. I feel the date is important.
Mrs. Darling. January of 1939.
Mr. KuNziG. Yon became then, Mrs. who ?
Mrs. Darling. Mrs. Barbara Springer.
Mr. KuNziG. And was that marriage severed by divorce or
Mrs. Darling. It was.
Mr. KuNziG. Do you recall the date when that took place ?
Mrs. Darling. No, I don't.
Mr. KuNziG. Wlien did you become Mrs. Darling?
Mrs. Darling. I became Mrs. Darling in 1946.
Mr. KuNziG. In 1946?
Mrs. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Do you know the date of the marriage ceremony in
1946?
Mrs. Darling. No, I don't.
Mr. KuNziG. You mean you don't know your wedding date?
Mrs. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. KuNziG. Well, Mrs. Darling, that is a little hard to imagine.
Mr. ScHERER. Well, you have the certificate ; don't you ?
Mrs. Darling. I don't think that matters.
Mr. ScHERER. Ask her if that is the date.
Mr. KuNziG. Could it have been the 24th day of August 1946?
Mrs. Darling. I don't recall the date.
Mr. KuNziG. Even if I refresh your memory, Mrs. Darling, and say
that the certificate of marriage says :
Between Mr. Byron Thorwell Darling and ]\Irs. Barbara Springer, I hereby
certify in accordance with the above license the persons above-mentioned were
joined in marriage at Clinton, County of Lenawee, Mich., August 24, 1946, in the
presence of Mabel Van Dusen of Clinton, Mich., and Anna May Lockner of St.
Petersburg, Fla. —
And signed — "L. J. Van Dusen — justice, magistrate, or justice,
Clinton, Mich.
Does that refresh your memory ?
Mrs. Darling. If that is the record.
Mr. KuNziG. I have this marked "Mrs. Darling Exhibit No. 1."
Mr. ScHERER. Well, if that is a certified copy, Mr. Counsel, just offer
it in evidence.
Mr, KuNziG. All right ; I offer it in evidence. Certified copy of the
marriage license and certificate of marriage of Byron Thorwell
Darling and Barbara Ann Springer, as Barbara Darling exhibit No. 1.
Mr. ScHERER, It will be so received.
(Barbara Darling exhibit No. 1 was marked for identification and
received in evidence.)
Mr. KuNziG. If this says August 24, you are saying, Mrs. Darling,
that it probably was August 24 ?
Mrs. Darling. Well, you have the record there.
Mr. KuNziG. Yes, but you were married ?
Mrs. Darling. Yes, I know.
Mr. Scherer. I think we have pursued that far enough, Mr. Counsel.
The record speaks for itself. Proceed to the next question.
Mr. Forer. What was that year?
Mr. KuNziG. August, 24, 1946.
1788 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. ScHEEER. Let's proceed, Mr. Counsel, with the next question.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, I. would like to request a 5-minute
recess.
Mr. ScHEEER. We will have a 5-minute recess.
(A short recess was taken.)
Mr. SciiERER. You may proceed, Mr. Counsel.
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Darling, if you haven't stated for the record,
will you state what type of work you did for the Fur and Leather
Workers' Union, was it secretarial or organizational ?
Mrs. Darling. I stated I was a secretary. It was just office work.
Mr. KuNziG. You said you were secretary and v.hat, I am sorry, I
didn't hear.
Mrs. Darling. I was secretary there, it was office work.
Mr. KuNziG. Office work?
Mrs. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. How long did you remain with the Fur and Leather
Workers ?
Mrs. Darling. Until July before leaving Detroit.
Mr. KuNziG. What date was that?
Mrs. Darling. I don't recall the date of leaving there.
Mr. KuNziG. Well, now, you are up to 1945 when you left the UE
and went to the Fur and Leather Workers. How long did you work
with them to the best of your memory ?
Mrs. Darling. 1 would say it was — I can't give you the specific
month. Probably the end of June or July of 1946.
Mr. KuNziG. June or July of 1946 ?
Mrs. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. When you left Detroit, where did you go then ?
Mrs. Darling. I went to Madison, Wis.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you work there ? We are still going through your
working employment.
Mrs. Darling. No; I didn't work there. I went to the university
there.
Mr. Clardy. I didn't hear that.
Mrs. Darling. I went to the university at Madison.
Mr. KuNziG. As a student ?
Mrs. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Is there anything further which you wish to add to
your employment record ?
Mrs. Darling. Yes ; I worked after being a student at the university
hospital part-time during my student days and after receiving my
degree from the university, I became employed in the department of
romance languages at the university as secretary of the department.
Mr. KuNziG. Are you speaking of Ohio State or AVisconsin ?
Mrs. Darling. Ohio State.
Mr. KuNziG. Ohio State?
Mrs. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. Counsel, I am confused as to dates.
Mr. KuNziG. I am, too.
Will you give us, to the best of your knowledge, the dates? When
you had gone to Madison, carry on from there, please.
Mrs. Darling. I went to Madison in the fall of 1946 and returned to
Ohio State, to Columbus, or came to Columbus, I should say, in the
fall of 1947, and I became involved in the university then.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1789
During my student work, I worked part time in the university hos-
pital, and after receiving my degree, and also during my last year,
1 worked part time in the department of romance languages.
After receiving my degree, I became secretary in the department of
romance languages.
Mr. KuNziG. This is Ohio State ?
Mrs. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. May I inquire at this point, I am a little confused on
dates yet, Mrs. Darling. I thought I understood you to say that you
went to Wisconsin in July of 1946. Did I correctly
Mrs. Darling. No ; I went to Wisconsin in — beginning in the fall
term of 1946.
Mr. Clardy. The documentary evidence dealing with your marriage,.
1 think, was August of 1946. Now, did you go to Wisconsin imme-
diately after the marriage or just before?
Mrs. Darling. Afterward.
Mr. Clardy. Just afterward?
Mrs. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. Then you stayed there approximately a year and came
here to Columbus ?
Mrs. Darling. I went to school at the University of Wisconsin for
2 semesters and then I came to Columbus. I arrived in Columbus
in the summer of 1947 and I began my studies at the Ohio State Uni-
versity in the fall of 1947.
Mr. Clardy. That clears it up. It was less than a year at Wiscon-
sin before you came here?
Mrs. Dari.ing. That is right.
Mr. Clardy. Thank you.
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Darling, turning back for a moment to the time
that you were in Detroit, can you give us for the record, to the best of
your memory, the residences or residence that you had during the
time you were in Detroit ?
Mrs. Darling. Well, I lived in a number of places. I recall hav-
ing lived on East Forrest — I don't know the address there. I lived
on Mitchell Avenue.
Mr. Clardy. What is the last ?
Mrs. Darling. Mitchell Avenue, and I lived on Sylvester Street.
Mr. Clardy. That is awfully difficult to hear for some reason or
other.
Mr. KuNziG. When you came to Columbus, you said you worked
for a time in the university hospital here, is that correct?
Mrs. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you ever know a Thomas F. X. Dombrowski ?
Mrs. Darling. I decline to to answer that question on the basis of
my right on the first amendment and my privilege in the fifth amend-
ment not to be a witness against myself.
Mr. KuNziG. In other words, you feel that in some way by answer-
ing whether or not you knew Thomas F. X. Dombrowski, you might
incriminate yourself?
Mrs. Darling. I might incriminate myself.
Mr. KuNziG. Do you know him to be the editor of the publication
Glos Ludowy ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer the question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
1790 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. Ktjnzig. Did you know Thomas F. X. Dombrowski to be a mem-
ber of the Communist party ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer the question for the same reasons.
Mr. KuNziG. May I state for the record that Thomas F. X. Dom-
browski, who has been identified as a Communist Party member, ap-
peared before this committee and refused to answer the questions on
the ground that he might incriminate himself.
Mr. ScHERER. You say he has been identified ?
Mr. KuNziG. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. May I ask one question ?
Mr. ScHERER. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. Did you know there was such a publication as that
described by counsel? I am not asking about your connection with
this man, but merely, did you have any knowledge about the
publication ?
Mr. FoRER. May we liave the name of that again ?
Mr. Clardy. Yes, I would like to have Mr. Kunzig repeat it.
Mr. Kunzig. Glos Ludowy.
Mr. Clardy. Did you know there was such a publication?
Mrs. Darling. Well, I heard of the publication.
Mr. Clardy. Thank you.
Mr. Kunzig. Did you know a Kuth Dombrowski ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Kunzig. Is she the former wife of Thomas F. X. Dombrowski ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. I have a document marked "Barbara Darling, Exhibit
No. 2," for identification, and I should like to ask Mr. Appell to show
this to you. This is an employment application from the university
hospital, and there is not a signature, but rather a printed name,
Mrs. Ruth Dombrowski, on the back. I will ask you if that is correct,
and if you see that name there (indicating) as a reference for your
application for employment at the university hospital here at the
Ohio State University ?
Mr. ScHERER. Does the exhibit indicate, Mr. Counsel, that she (Mrs.
Darling) gave this person as a reference ?
Mr. Kunzig. The exhibit speaks for itself, sir. I will ask that
the exhibit be passed up to you after it is identified. I don't have
it in front of me now.
Mr. Clardy. Is it an application for employment filed with the
hospital here ?
Mr. Kunzig. That is correct, sir.
Mr. Walter. Will you read the question, please, Mr. Reporter?
(Last question was so read.)
Mrs. Darling. Yes, I do.
Mr. Kunzig. Did you know the Ruth Dombrowski whose name
appears on the back of that document ?
Mrs. Darling. What is the question, please?
Mr. Kunzig. Did you know Mrs. Ruth Dombrowski whose name
appears on the back of that document?
Mrs. Darling. Yes, I did know her.
Mr. Kunzig. Is Mrs. Ruth Dombrowski the Ruth Dombrowski
who was the wife of Thomas F. X. Dombrowski ?
Mrs. Darling. I decline to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1791
Mr. KuNZiG. So you will go as far as admitting that you knew her
but no further ?
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Counsel, I think she has answered.
Mr. KuNziCx. Will you return that, please?
Mrs. Darling, during the time you were in Detroit, were you a
member of the First Congressional District Communist Party in
Detroit?
Mrs. Darung. I decline to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, are you a member of the Communist Party at
this time ?
Mrs. Darling. I decline to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. Were you ever or have you ever been a member of the
Communist Party ?
Mrs. Darling. I decline to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. Now, Mrs. Darling, this document marked "Barbara
Darling, Exhibit No. 2," for identification which you have just looked
at is not signed as such. Did you turn in this document as an appli-
cation for employment at the university hospital ? Is this your appli-
cation, in other words?
Mrs. Darling. I made an application at the university hospital.
Mr. Kunzig. Is this your application ?
Mrs. Darling. I don't know that that particular one is, but I
Mr. FoRER. Let us see it, please.
Mr. Walter. It is a photostatic copy.
Mr. Clardy. You understand. Witness, this is a photostatic copy
of an original document ?
Mrs. Darling. Yes, it seems to be.
Mr. Kunzig. And did you give the name of Mrs. Dombrowski as a
reference ?
Mrs. Darling. It appears there that I did.
Mr, Kunzig. Did you?
Mrs. Darling. If that is the document, I suppose I did. It appears
on the record.
Mr. Clardy. Counsel, was this photostatic copy acquired from the
hospital record ?
Mr. Appell. Yes.
Mr. Kunzig. Yes, it was.
I have here in front of me a document marked "Barbara Darling
Exhibit No. 3" for identification. This document is an oath of al-
legiance executed by all officers, instructors, and employees of Ohio
State University, marked "The Department of Hospital." I should
like to read this into the record, what appears on this document :
I, Barbara A. Darling, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and
defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State
of Ohio against all enemies, foreign and domestic ; that I will bear true faith
and allegiance to the same ; that I take this obligation freely and without any
mental reservations or for the purpose of evasion ; I will well and faithfully
discharge the duties of the office or position of which I am employed, so help me
God.
I further swear or affirm that I do not advocate nor am I a member of any
party or organization that advocates the overthrow of the United States Govern-
ment or the Government of the State of Ohio by force or violence, and during
1792 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
such time as I am an officer or instructor of Ohio State University, I will not
advocate or become a member of any party or organization that advocates the
overthrow of the Government of the United States or the State of Ohio by force
or violence.
The signature appears as Barbara A. Darling, sworn to this 29th
day of June, 1949, Columbus, Ohio, before what looks like A. J. Tann,
notary public.
I would like to ask you, Mr. Appell, to show this "Barbara Darling
Exhibit No. 3" to Mrs. Darling.
I ask you, Mrs. Darling, whether you signed that docunnent of
which this is a photostatic copj'.
Mrs. Darlincx. Yes, I did. I signed this photostatic copy. I signed
the original, rather.
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Darling, I should like to ask you again if in 1949
you made that statement and swore to it before a notary public, I
will ask you today before a Committee of Congress of the United States
of America, do you advocate or are you a member — and I use the exact
words that appeared here in 1949, of any political party or organiza-
tion that advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United
States or the government of the State of Ohio by force or violence ?
Mrs. Darling. I signed that oath and it is a true oath taken in good
faith. I do not believe in force or violence and I have never used
force in my life and I have never used violence.
Mr. KuNziG. Well, I ask you again to answer the question. Do
you advocate or are you a member of any political party or organiza-
tion that advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United
States or the government of the State of Ohio by force or violence?
I am asking you this in 1953, now, today.
Mrs. Darling. I believe by my previous remarks I have said that I
do not belong to unj organization that believes in the overthrow of
the government by force or violence, that I am defending the Con-
stitution.
Mr. KuNziG. I asked you previously, I believe, whether you are
now a member of the Communist Party, and you declined to answer,
giving as your reason the fifth amendment. Am I correct in under-
standing that you are saying as to this question that you do not belong
to any organization that advocates the overthrow of the Governrpent
of the United States by force or violence ?
Mrs. Darling. That is true.
Mr. KuNziG. Then, let me ask you again, are you now a member of
the Communist Party ?
Mr. Darling. I decline to answer that question on the basis of the
fifth amendment, not to be a witness against myself.
Mr. KuNziG. Well, do you believe, Mrs. Darling, that the Com-
munist Party is not out to overthrow the Government of the United
States by force or violence ?
Mrs. Darling. Would you repeat the question, please ?
Mr. KuNziG. Do you believe that the Communist Party is not out
to overthrow the Government of the United States by force or violence?
Mrs. Darling. Do I believe it is not out to do that ?
Mr. KuNziG. Yes.
Mrs. Darling. I don't know whether it is or not.
Mr. KuNziG. You don't know ?
Mrs. Darling. That is right. I don't have any evidence that it is
not, and I have no evidence that it is.
COMAIUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1793
Mr. KuNziG. I see. Have you lived in this country for the last
10 years ?
Mrs. Darling. Have I lived in this country for the last 10 years?
I have lived in this country all my life, sir. I was born here. I have
lived here all my life with the exception of a few months that I spent
in Mexico.
Mr. KuNziG. And you have no evidence today that the Communist
Party is out to overthroAv the Government by force or violence?
Mrs. Darling. I don't have any evidence one way or the other.
Mr. ScHERER. I think the witness has answered that. We will not
pursue that further, Mr. Counsel.
Mr. Kunzig. Did you ever know a person by the name of Toby
Baldwin or Bereniece Baldwin, the same person ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. Did you attend the 1944 convention of the Communist
Party?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. In Michigan, did you know the membership secretary
of the Communist Party in Michigan ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. Did you know Toby Baldwin to be the membership
secretarv of the Communist'Partv in Michigan ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you knoAv Toby Baldwin as the person who
checked the credentials at that convention in 1944 ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Walter. Where was the convention held ?
Mr. Kunzig. In Detroit, Mich., sir.
Mr. ScHERER. Is Toby Baldwin known by any other name? My
recollection is that her correct name is Bereniece.
Let the record show that Bereniece Baldwin and Toby Baldwin are
one and the same person.
Mr. Clardy. The record should also show that she has been a wit-
ness before this committee at the city of Detroit last fall.
Mr. ScHERER. The record will so indicate.
Mr. Kunzig. Were you ever a member of the Mid-Tow^n Club of the
Communist Party in JDetroit, Mich ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question on the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. Did you ever know a Richard F. O'Hair?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question on the reasons stated
before.
Mr. Kunzig. Isn't it a fact, Mrs. Darling, that you were a member
of the Communist Party cadre for the State of Michigan which passed
on the admissibility of the party to become members of the party ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question on the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. Were you in 1944 an officer of the Communist Party
in Michigan?
1794 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question on the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. ScHERER. What office does the record indicate she held?
Mr. KuNziG. That will be developed as we go along.
Mr. Clardy. Another witness will develop that ?
Mr. KuNziG. It is coming right now.
Were you a member of one of the convention committees at this
convention held in Detroit?
Mrs. Darling. 1 refuse to answer that question on the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. Isn't it a fact that you were not only a member, but
a chairman of the resolutions committee and as such, an officer?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question on the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. Didn't you make a report as chairman to the entire
convention on the resolutions to be adopted by the Communist Party
convention ?
Mrs. Darling. I refuse to answer that question on the aforemen-
tion reasons.
Mr. Kunzig. Mr. Chairman, I have no further questions at this
time.
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Clardy, do you have any questions ?
Mr. Clardy. I have just 1 or 2.
Counsel, did you develop the sequence of the residence in Detroit?
Mr. Kunzig. She gave
Mr. Clardy. The last one she named was, I recall, Sylvester Avenue.
Was that intended to be the last place at which you lived ?
Mrs. Darling. The last place at which I lived.
Mr, Clardy. At Detroit?
Mrs. Darling. In Detroit. As I recall, it was. It may not have
been.
Mr. Clardy. Giving approximations, how long did you live there^
working backward ?
Mrs. Darling. I don't recall when I moved to that address.
Mr. Clardy. One or two or three years ?
Mrs. Darling. I don't have any recollection of how long I lived
there.
Mr. Clardy. None whatever?
Mrs. Darling. None whatever.
Mr. Clardy. Well, how long did you live at the place next to Syl-
vester tliat you named ? I have forgotten the name of the street.
Mrs. Darling. On Mitchell Avenue ?
Mr. Clardy. Yes.
Mrs. Darling. I don't recall. It was not important.
Mr. Clardy. You don't recall that?
Mrs. Darling. No.
Mr. Clardy. And the same thing is true of the first place you
named.
Mrs. Darling. That is right.
Mr. Clardy. But Sylvester was the last place you lived before you
went to Wisconsin ?
Mrs. Darling. That is right.
Mr. Clardy. In Wisconsin, you lived in Madison?
Mrs. Darling. Yes.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1795
Mr. Clardy. Was it the city of Madison ?
Mrs. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. Clardy. That is all I have, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Scherer. Mr. "Walter?
Mr. "Walter. No questions.
Mr. KuNziG. I have one more question, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Scherer. "V^ery well.
Mr. KuNziG. From the date of your marriage application which is
the 19th day of August 1946, and it states the address as 7418 Syl-
vester, Detroit 14, Mich.
Mr. Clardy. What is that number again ?
Mr. KuNziG. 7418 Sylvester Street, Detroit, Mich.
From that date until the time you left Detroit, did you live con-
tinuously at 7418 Sylvester Street ?
Mrs. Darling. From what date?
Mr. KuNziG. From the date of the application for your marriage
license, which was the 19th day of August, 1946.
Mrs. Darling. I don't recall whether I lived there continuously.
Mr. KuNziG. I have no further questions, sir.
Mr. Scherer. The witness will be excused.
Take a 5-minute recess.
(A short recess was taken.)
Mr. Scherer. Let the record show that the witnesses who have testi-
fied in this hearing today are excused from their subpenas.
Mr. Clardy. The first three, you mean ?
Mr. Scherer. Those who have already testified.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, the next witness is Prof. Byron Thor-
well Darling.
Mr. Forer. May we record the usual objection?
Mr. Scherer. The record may note your objection, Mr. Forer.
Mr. Forer. Thank you.
Mr. Scherer. Mr. Darling, will you stand and be sworn ?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you shall give to this sub-
committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you God ?
Mr. Darling. I do.
Mr. Scherer. You may proceed.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Darling, I realize that you have testified, of course,
before this committee, but to keep the record straight, I would like
to ask your full name, for the record.
TESTIMONY OF BYRON THOHWELL DARLING, ACCOMPANIED BY
HIS COUNSEL, JOSEPH FORER
Mr. Darling. Byron Thorwell Darling.
Mr. Scherer. Pardon me just a minute ; let the photographers get
their pictures and retire.
Mr. KuNziG. And your present address, sir ?
Mr. Darling. Temporarily living at 58 West Ninth Avenue, Co-
lumbus, Ohio.
Mr. KuNziG. Columbus, Ohio ?
Mr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. You are represented by counsel ?
1796 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Let the record note that the counsel is the same Mr. Forer who ap-
peared for the preceding witness, Mrs. Darling.
Professor Darling, would you state for the record your educational
background ?
Mr. Darling. Starting at high school ?
Mr. KuNziG. Yes, sir ; that would be fine.
Mr. Darling. I graduated from Crane Technical High School in
IQS'Q, and I went to the University of Illinois from 1930 to 1936, and
I went to the University of Michigan from 1936 to 1938, and then I
transferred to the University of Wisconsin in 1938 to 1939 and I got
my doctor's degree from the University of Michigan in 1939, and then
I went to the University — no, I think that was the educational
background.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, then, state for the record, please, Professor Dar-
ling, your employment record, taking it 3^ear by year and giving us to
the best of your ability explicit dates.
Mr. Darling. I was employed by Western Electric Co. from 1929
to 1930, and at Michigan State College from 1939, 1 guess, in the fall
or something like that, to 1941, and I worked for a summer session
at Pennsylvania State College in 1941, and then I worked at the United
States Rubber Co. from 1941 to 1946.
Mr. Clardy. United States Rubber Co. from 1941 to 1946, at Detroit?
Mr. Darling. United States Rubber Co. at Detroit; yes, sir; and I
worked at the University of Wisconsin in the spring of — no, in the fall
quarter of 1947, and at the Yale University in — pardon me; not the
fall quarter; it was the fall semester, first semester for 1947 school
year, and then the second semester at Yale University. Then I came
to Ohio State University in the summer of 1947 and worked here until
just recently.
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Darling testified, I just want to get the record
straight, that she had gone to Wisconsin just after your marriage in
x4.ugust of 1946 ; namely in the fall of 1946. Did you go also in the
fall of 1946? You just said 1947 in your testimony. You probably
made an error ?
Mr. Darling. I meant 1946.
Mr. KuNZiG. I wanted to straighten out the record.
Mr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Have you, then, concluded your employment record
and places in which you have taught and worked ?
Mr. Darling. I believe I have.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, I would like to turn to another phase or type of
work. Professor Darling, and ask you if you have ever worked for the
United States Government, in any way received pay from the United
States Government ?
Mr. Darling. Well, I have not worked directly for the United States
Government.
Mr. KuNziG. If you didn't work directly — I realize you didn't work
directly for the United States Government, but have you ever worked
indirectly for the United States Government, receiving pay which
originated from the Government?
Mr. Darling. Well, I worked on a Navy project at the University
of Wisconsin, and Yale. That was in 1946-47.
Mr. KuNziG. What type of project was that. Professor Darling?
Mr. Darling. That Avas theoretical project in physics.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1797
Mr. ScHERER. I didn't get the answer.
Mr. Darling. Theoretical project in nuclear phj^sics.
Mr. Scherer. That was the project for the Navy?
Mr. Darling. For the Navy, yes.
Mr. CluVrdy. Let's get a better description of that.
Mr. KuNZiG. Could you go into more detail?
Mr. Darling. That was an unclassified project.
Mr. KuNziG. Unclassified project ; what type of work did you do?
Mr. Darling. Theoretical work; theoretical work.
Mr. KuNziG. Would you continue, then? Did you ever work at any
<other lime for the Government?
Mr. Darling. Well, while at Ohio State University, I worked on an
Air Force project which was an unclassified project and did work on
the theory of the ozone molecule.
Mr. KuNziG. The theor}- of the ozone molecule ?
Mr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. How long a period of time did you work for the United
^States Air Force, from what date to what date?
Mr. Darling. I don't remember the initial date, but finally — I don't
remember that exactly, but I believe it was some time after the hearing
before this committee.
Mr. KuNziG. Dr. Darling, have you ever traveled abroad, to Canada,
for example i
Mr. Darling. Yes, I have.
Mr. KuNziG. When vras that, sir?
Mr. Darling. As I remember, that was in the summer of 1949.
Mr. KuNziG. Would you explain to the committee your purposes for
going to Canada?
Mr. Darling. My purpose for going to Canada was to attend an
lauroral conference.
Mr. KuNziG. Would you spell that for the reporter ?
Mr. Darling. A-u-r-o-r-a-l.
JNIr, Kfnzig. Would you explain to the committee what that con-
ference was?
Mr. Darling. That conference had for its purpose the study of the
physics of the aurora ; in common parlance, that means northern lights.
Mr. KuNziG. Did the United States Air Force sponsor this?
Mr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Did they sponsor you, or invite you?
Mr. Darling. They invited me, I believe.
Mr. Clardy. Did that have any connection with research into the
weather ?
Mr. Darling. No, I don't believe so.
]Mr. Clardy. What aspect of research did that tie into ?
Mr. Darling. It had to do with the aurora.
Mr. Clardy. I understand that. I am trying to get the significance
of exploring the northern lights as applied practically to today's
problems. I apprehended the Air Force might be interested in the
weather.
Llr. Darling. Well, the physics of the upper atmosphere is very
interesting. I don't know what particular interest the Air Force had
in it.
35663—53 5
1798 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. Clardy. You didn't know what the work was going to be used
for, if anything?
Mr. Darling. Right.
Mr. Clardy. My guess may be as good as anybody's ?
Mr. Darling. That is right.
Mr. KuNziG. So you attended this conference, Professor Darling,
under the sponsorship of the United States Air Force ?
Mr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, when you lived in Detroit, could you give us
to the best of your memory the exact residence where you lived, the
address, street, and so forth?
Mr. Darling. I can only recollect that I lived at 7418 Sylvester.
Mr. Clardy. Are you talking about Detroit ?
Mr. KuNziG. Yes. How long did you live at 7418 Sylvester?
Mr. Darling. I don't remember that.
Mr. Clardy. Was it a matter of just a few days or weeks, or what?
Mr. Darling. It was my last address, I believe.
Mr. Clardy. Approximately, then, can you tell us when you moved
there, with reference to something that may have happened?
Mr. Darling. No, I am sorry ; I can't.
Mr. Clardy. Was it more than a year ?
Mr. Darling. I wouldn't be able to state.
Mr. Clardy. You can't come within a year or 2 years of the length
of time ?
Mr. Darling. No ; I am sorry.
Mr. Kunzig. Do you recall any other addresses in any other streets
in Detroit ?
Mr. Darling. No, I don't.
Mr. Kunzig. Were you present in the courtroom when your wife
testified a few moments ago ?
Mr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Kunzig. Did you hear her mention other streets? I thought
that might have refreshed your memory.
Mr. Darling. Yes, I heard her mention other streets.
Mr. Kunzig. Do you recall them, or not ?
Mr. ScHERER. I think the witness has said he doesn't recall.
Mr. Kunzig. All right.
Mr. Clardy. If you don't mind, Mr. Chairman, I want to ask it
this way. Was that the only address at which you lived in Detroit?
Mr. Darling. No.
Mr. Walter. Why don't you tell him where he lived and lead him ?
This is a regular proceeding, and ask him if that is a fact.
Mr. Scherer. Would this be a convenient point for you to stop
this evening, Mr. Counselor ?
Mr. Kunzig. Yes, Mr. Chairman, if you so desire, we can stop right
now and commence tomorrow.
Mr. Scherer. The committee will recess until 9 : 30 tomorrow
morning.
(Whereupon, at 4 p. m., the hearing was recessed until 9 : 30 a. m.,
Thursday, June 18, 1953.)
INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE
COLUMBUS, OHIO, AKEA
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 1953
United States House of Eepresentatives,
Subcommittee of the Committee
ON Un-American Activities,
Colurribus^ Ohio.
PUBLIC HEARING
The subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American Activities
met, pursuant to adjournment, at 9 : 30 a. m., in hearing room 2, State
Office Building, Columbus, Ohio; Hon. Gordon H. Scherer, acting
chairman, presiding.
Committee members present : Representatives Gordon H. Scherer,
Kit Clardy, and Francis E. Walter.
Staff members present: Robert L. Kunzig, counsel; Donald T.
Appell, investigator ; and Thomas W. Beale, Sr., chief clerk.
Sergeant-at-arms : Claude Woodward.
Present as invited guest-observers: Hon. Samuel Devine, member
of the Ohio Legislature and chairman of the Ohio Commission on
Un-American Activities; and Sidney Isaacs, counsel for the Ohio
Commission on Un-American Activities.
Mr. Scherer. The committee will be in session.
Is counsel ready to proceed ?
Mr. Kunzig. Yes.
Mr. Scherer. Dr. Darling, this morning the members of the com-
mittee would like to ask you some questions. Dr. Darling, you testified
before the House Committee on Un-American Activities at Washing-
ton on March 12 and 13 of this year, did you not ?
TESTIMONY OF BYRON THORWELL DARLING, ACCOMPANIED BY
HIS COUNSEL, JOSEPH FORER— Resumed
Dr. Darling. I believe so.
Mr. Kunzig. And at that time, of course, your testimony was given
under oath ?
Dr. Darling. Right ?
Mr. Kunzig. Is that right ?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Scherer. Subsequent to your appearance before the committee
in Washington, there was a hearing held at Ohio State University in
which you were involved ; is that right ?
Dr. Darling. That is correct.
1799
1800 CORIMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. ScHERER. And that hearing was before President Howard Bevis
of the university ?
Dr. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. Scherer. xVnd that hearing grew out of the testimony you had
given before this committee ?
Dr. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. Scherer. In Washington ?
Dr. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. Scherer. Now for that hearing before the university you had
prepared with the help of j^oiir counsel, a formal statement, did
you not?
Dr. Darling. Correct.
Mr. Scherer, And that formal statement consisted of about 14 type-
written pages ; is that correct ?
Dr. Darling. Something like that.
Mr. Scherer. And at the hearing before President Bevis in April, I
believe you read that statement as part of your testimony ?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Scherer. And about the time of the hearing, that statement to
which I refer was circulated under a cover letter of Professor Harris
of the university to various members of the faculty, was it not ?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, when you appeared before President Bevis at
your hearing, you testified, but not under oath ; is that right ?
Dr. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. Scherer. And the statement to which you have just referred
which was circulated by Professor Harris at the university, that state-
ment was not signed by you; is that correct?
Dr. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. Scherer. This statement you had prepared for presentation at
the time of your hearing before President Bevis was prepared in an
attempt to hold your position on the faculty of Ohio State Univei'sity,
was it not ?
Dr. Darling. I was defending myself against charges and the an-
swer is yes.
Mr. Scherer. I understand.
Now, you did not see fit, however, to make that statement in affidavit
form, did you ? Do you understand my question ?
Dr. Darling. Nobody asked me to, and I saw no reason to.
Mr. Scherer. But that statement was the explanation of testimony
you had given before the House committee under oath, was it not?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Scherer. And you say in that statement that it was prepared
with the help and advice of your counsel ?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Scherer. And you say it was never suggested or the thought
never came to you that it should be put in affidavit form ; is that right?
Dr. Darling. Well, this was an administrative hearing.
Mr. Scherer. Well, now, on page 8 of that statement you say this :
I am not and never have been a member of the Communist Party or any
organization which, to my knowledge or belief was affiliated or connected with the
Communist Party.
Now, Dr. Darling, when you made that statement to the officials
of Ohio State University, will you tell us whether or not that was a
true or false statement?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA ISOl
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the following
reasons: First, I agree with one of my fellow physicists, one of the
greatest living physicists, Prof. Albert Einstein, that one should re-
fuse to answer questions before these political inquisitions and second,
on the privilege of the fifth amendment that one may not be made to
testify against himself.
Mr. ScHEREE. Well, you are then refusing to tell the committee for
the reasons you have stated whether or not you told President Bevis
the truth or not ; is that right ?
Dr. Darling. I am refusing to answer the question for the stated
reasons.
Mr. Clardy. I didn't hear your answer. Will you repeat it ?
Dr. Darling. I am refusing to answer for the stated reasons.
Mr. Clardy. The same reasons just given ?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. ScHERER. Dr. Darling, when you testified before this commit-
tee on March 12 and 13 of this year, I am going to ask you whether or
not this question was not asked you by Mr. Eussell of the staff : "Mr.
Darling, are you now a member of the Communist Party?'' and if you
did not answer, "I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons,"
namely, the reason you had stated previously, that you refused to an-
swer a pi-evioiis question on the ground that it might tend to incrimi-
nate you.
I am going to ask you whether that question which I just read to
you and the answer which I just read was asked by Mr. Kussell and
that answer given ?
Dr. Darling. Well, I don't know who asked the question.
Mr. ScHERER. Irrespective of who asked the question, was not that
question asked you and that answer given ?
Dr. Darling. Well, there was some — yes.
Mr. Sciierer. In view of the statement which you made within
a few days after that hearing to the president of Ohio State Uni-
versity that you were not a member of the Communist Party, I am
now going to repeat tliat same question and ask you. Dr. Darling, are
you now a member of the Communist Party ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that for the same reason.
Mr. ScHERER. I am going to ask you if at the hearing in Washington
to which we have referred, whether or not you were asked this
question: "Have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?",
and if you did not answer, "I refuse to answer that question for the
same reasons."
Dr. Darling. I believe that was asked.
Mr. ScHERER. In view of your statement to which I have referred.
I am going to ask j^ou that same question now under oath : Have you
ever been a member of the Communist Party?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the reasons that
I gave here today.
Mr. ScHERER. Then, Mr. Kearney of the committee asked you if you
were not a member of the Communist Party, would you so state, and
your answer at that time: "I refuse to answer that question for the
same reasons."
Was that question asked you and that answer given by you at that
hearing ?
Dr. Darling. I believe so.
1802 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. ScHERER. Now, Dr. Darling, I am going to put that question
again to you here in view of your statement. If you were not a mem-
ber of the Communist Party, would you so state ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. ScHERER. I am going to ask you if this question wasn't asked
you : "Were you ever a member of the Mid-Town Club of the Com-
munist Party in Detroit?" And your answer before the committee
was, "I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons."
Dr. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. Sciierer. Now, again, in view of your statement, I ask : Were
you ever a member of the Mid-Town Club of the Communist Party
in Detroit?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. I am going to ask you whether or not this question
wasn't asked you : "Were you ever a member of the First Congres-
sional District branch of the Communist Party in Detroit, Mich.?"
And your answer at that time was, "I refuse to answer that question
for the same reasons."
Dr. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. Scherer. And I am going to ask you now, in view of your state-
ment to President Bevis : Were you ever a member of the First Con-
gressional District branch of the Communist Party in Detroit, Mich. ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. In order to save time, I will state for the record that
the questions I am about to ask Dr. Darling were asked him at the hear-
ings in Washington and the answers were given by him.
I am going to ask you now. Dr. Darling, while you were at Yale
University, were you ever a member of any branch of the Communist
Party?
Dr. Darling. T refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. KuNziG. While you were employed at Michigan State, did you
engage in the distribution of Communist Party literature?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Scherer. Have you ever acted as an agent for the Communist
Party?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. Have you ever transferred any information that was
in your possession to officials of the Communist Party ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. If you never transferred any such information, would
you so state ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. Are you engaged in Communist Party activities at
the present time?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. Have you ever received from the Communist Party
any directives to do or to refrain from doing any specific thing?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. So that the record may be clear, let it indicate at
this point again that I am reading the same questions that were asked
Dr. Darling at the hearing in Washington.
Mr. Kunzig. Have you ever received any funds from the Commu-
nist Party ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1803
Mr. ScHERER, Are you a member of any Communist organization at
Ohio State University at the present time? Of course, you couldn't
be at the present time, but that question was asked you. Were you
prior to your dismissal from Ohio State University a member of any
Communist Party organization at Ohio State University?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. Do you know whether there is such an organization
at Ohio State University at the present time ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. Is there a cell of Communist Party members composed
of professors and instructors at Ohio State University at this time?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. Let the record show that I am reading from the official
transcript of the hearing held in Washington on INIarch 12th and 13th.
Have you ever received any compensation or anything of value from
the Communist Party at any time ?
Dr. Darling. No.
Mr. Scherer. Did you ever make any contributions to the Com-
munist Party ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Walter. In other words, you will answer the question that you
never received anything, but the question as to whether or not you gave
anything, you will not answer ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Scherer. Have you written any books or pamphlets which have
been published by any group or organization?
Dr. Darling. By any group or organization ?
Mr. Scherer. Yes.
Dr. Darling. Would you refer to papers published in professional
societies ?
Mr. Scherer. Yes.
Dr. Darling. Yes, I have written a number of papers and some of
them — well, let's take the paper on the theory of water molecule, is
one of the fundamental papers in the field, and I am very proud of
that paper.
I have also been engaged in working on the theory of elementary
particles in fundamental length. I published a paper on that in 1950,
and I have been interrupted in that work by the hearings of this
committee.
I had a series of papers on the subject ready to prepare for publica-
tion. I had the first one practically finished and I have not been able
to return to it, and this work is very fundamental in the fact that it
has to do with the existence of the elementary particles, the values of
their masses which some of these particles are well known for a long
time, and others have been discovered in the cosmic rays. I predicted
the existence of many of these particles and the experimental work in
cosmic rays seems to indicate that there are these particles.
Mr. Scherer. It was in that field, was it, that you were doing
research for the United States Air Force at Ohio State?
Dr. Darling. No, that was not. I was working on the theory of the
ozone molecule, and that is a later type of work in the same type of
field that I did the work on the water vapor molecule, the ozone
molecule. It is a very nice molecule that had some new things in it,
1804 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
some new things for the theoretical development and understandings
This work has also been interrupted.
The Air Force was very much interested in this, and I think that
that is one of the type of things that this committee in its actions does
not take into accoimt, that although this was classified work, was very
important work and a fundamental theory, and if this type of work
doesn't go on, it is going to lead to a restriction of the growth of science
in this country.
Mr. SciiERER. "We realize that you are a very capable physicist and
evidently, because you were a capable physicist, you were doing work
for the United States Air Force, but my question is now, Have you
ever published any writings for the Communist Party ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. SciiERER. Have you ever used — have you ever published any
writings under any other name tlian Darling ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.-
Mr. ScHERER. Isn't it a fact that you have ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question.
Mr. ScHERER. Let me finisli. I am sorry. Isn't it a fact that you
have written articles for the Communist Party under another name?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. SciiERER. As well as under your own name ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. SciiERER. Now, has anyone ever shoAvn you any information
pertaining to classified contracts of the armed services.
Dr. Darling. Information pertaining to classified contracts'?
Mr. ScHERER. Yes ; I might in fairness say, in Washington that same
question was asked you, and you refused to answer.
Dr. Darling. Well, I would like to state to this committee and tO'
the audience and the television audie.nce that to the best of my knowl-
edge, I have never been in possession in any form of any secret or classi-
fied material, and I would like to further state that there are no secrets
of that nature. There is nothing in the world
Mr. SciiERER. There are secrets of the Federal Government, aren't
there, classified secrets at the present time ?
Dr. Darling. Yes, but there are no secrets of that nature. Nothing
that cannot be — with ingenuity, inventiveness, discovered.
Mr. Clardy. Then you don't tliink any of the secrets of the atom
bomb were stolen and given to Hussia ? They would have discovered
that themselves without any help from their spies, is that what you
mean ?
Dr. Darling. I didn't mean that at all.
Mr. Clardy. It sounded like it.
Mr. ScHERER. Dr. Darling, I am going to pass to another pliase of
this investigation, one that wasn't touched upon in Washington. Do-
you know Kobert H. Bush ?
Dr. Darling. Kobert H. Bush?
Mr. ScHERER. Yes.
Dr. Darling. I don't recall.
Mr. Sc MERER. W^ell, maybe we can refresh your recollection. Isn't
Robert H. Busli now a rather well-known professor of psychology at
Harvard University ? Does that refresh your recol lection ?
Dr. Darling. I don't know.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1805
Mr. ScHERER. Maybe we can go a little further. Isn't it a fact that
jou knew Robert H. Bnsh very well at Michigan State University
when you were at Michigan State College when you were teaching
there in 1939 and 1940, and he was a graduate student?
Dr. Darling. Yes ; I knew him.
Mr. ScHERER. Well, let's see what Dr. Bush says about it. Dr. Bush,
let the record show, testified before this committee less than a month
ago, on May 25, 1953, and Dr. Bush was under oath, and Mr. Tavenner
asked him these questions :
What is your name?
Answer. Robert H. Bush.
Question. And what is your profession?
Answer. I am an assistant professor at Harvard University.
Question. In wliat field are you working?
Answer. I am in the social relations department and I teach psychology.
Then Mr. Appell of the staff asked this question :
Pi-ofessor Bush, during the days you were a student at Michigan State, did you
know Byron Thorwell Darling?
Answer. Yes, I did know him.
Now, isn't it a fact that you became acquainted with Dr. Bush while
both of you were members of a Communist group at Michigan State,
which group was composed largely of students and a few professors?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, let's see what Professor Bush says about that in
his testimony.
Mr. Appell asked :
How did you first become acquainted Avith Byron Darling?
Answer. I am afraid I don't recall the precise circumstances but it was through
:a group of undergraduates who I knew at the time had formed a sort of political
discussion group. It was through this group that I met Mr. Dai-ling.
Question. This political discussion group with which you became affiliated,
was it a group that discussed all political phases, or did it specialize?
Answer, It was quite specialized. It was concerned with leftists' political
discussions. My recollection is very poor, but I think it was more toward the
Communist Party. We discussed literature put out by the Communist Party,
identified as Communist Party literature. Some of the stuff we discussed was,
I don't recall anything having been published by the Socialist Party that we read.
Question. Did the group also discuss literature circulated by the Young Com-
munist League?
Answer. Yes, I believe I remembered seeing the name Young Communist League
on something printed.
Mr. Appell then asked Mr. Bush :
When did Byron T. Darling become known to you and how did he become
known to yon'i
Answer. I can't recall, but I distinctly remember his having attended some
•of the meetings later on.
Is that testimony of Dr. Bush true?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. PcHEEKR. Now, isn't it a fact, Dr. Darling, that you were the
person who led the discussions of this Communist group at Michigan
State, and isn't it a fact that you were the dominant party at these
meetings?
Dr. Dari.ing. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, Mr. Appell asked Professor Bush :
When Professor Darling attended the meetings of this group, did he attend as
■another member or was his connection more formal than that?
1806 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Answer. I don't recall that Darling was in any particular capacity, except that
since he was one of the faculty members that attended these meetings, he seemed
to frequently take a leading role in the discussions. He seemed to be the au-
thority on a number of points that were being discussed. It is only in this way
that I recall he was in a special role. My recollection is that when he attended
the meetings, he was the dominant person in the discussion.
Then the next question by Mr. Appell :
When Darling was not leading the discussion, who would assume the leader-
ship role in the discussion?
Answer. Well, my recollection is that it was Charles Gainor who was the
next most dominant person in the group as far as discussions were concerned.
Now, would you care to comment on that testimony of Dr. Bush,
which I just read, as to whether it is true or false?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, did you know Gainor ?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. ScHERER. Dr. — his name is Charles Gainor; isn't that right?
Dr. Darling. That is correct.
Mr. ScHERER. And Dr. Gainor now is teaching at Pittsburgh Uni-
versity, did you know that ?
Dr. Darling. No, I didn't know that.
Mr. ScHERER. Well, Dr. Gainor was at your home on New Year's
Day as late as January 1, 1948, wasn't he, stayed at your home over-
night? You stayed at Gainor's home; I am sorry. You stayed at
Gainor's home in Michigan, do you recall that ?
Dr. Darling. Well, I wouldn't be certain about the date, but that
may be.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, you knew Dr. Gainor as a member of the Young
Communist League when he was at Michigan State while you were
there and he was a member of this group and was second in command
with you, did you not?
Dr. Darling. 1 refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. ScHERER. Well of course, Dr. Gainor was a little more frank
with the committee. Dr. Darling.
Dr. Gainor just appeared before the committee and under oath
testified on May 27 :
Question. Mr. Gainor, will you state your full name and present address?
Answer. Charles Gainor, 4111 Aliquippa treet, Pittsburgh, Pa. —
He then tells of his educational background, he has a Ph. D. in
philosophy, which he received from Michigan State.
Question. What is your status on the faculty of the University at Pittsburgh
at the present time?
Answer. Associate professor. Department of Biological Sciences.
Didn't you know that he was at Pittsburgh? Your families ex-
change Christmas cards, do they not?
Dr. Darling, I don't recall.
Mr. ScHERER. You don't recall ?
Dr. Darling. No.
Mr. ScHERER. Well, he tells about that :
Question. Professor Gainor, J hand you a photograph and ask you if you can
identify that, the individuals shown there?
Answer. Yes, that is Dr. Darling.
Question. Do you know Dr. Darling?
Answer. Yes, I know him.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1807
Let's see where he admits that he is a member of the Communist
Party.
Mr. Appell asked him :
Professor Gainer, you were interviewed by me on May 18 of this year, and
during the course of the interview you voluntarily admitted for a period of time
you held membership in the Young Communist League and the answer was yes?
Now, I don't recall what your answer was to my question as to
whether you remember Dr. Gainor staying at your home as late as —
Mr. Clardy corrects me, you did recall that he stayed at your home,
but didn't recollect the date ?
Dr. Darling. No, the other way around.
Mr. ScHERER. I am sorry ; I am still confused. You stayed at Dr.
Gainor's home in Michigan ; is that right ?
Dr. Darling. That is right.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, getting back to Michigan State, Dr. Darling,
isn't it true that this Communist group first met on Michigan State
campus and then moved over to a private residence on the west side of
Lansing that was a considerable distance from the campus to the
home of Frank and Goldie Kieger, of 401 Beaver Street, Lansing,
Mich., and isn't it at that home that you presided over these meetings?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, let's see what Dr. Bush has to say about those
meetings. On page 14 of the transcript of Dr. Bush's testimony. May
27, we find Mr. Appell asking him this question :
Then, when the meetings were moved from East Lansing, where were they
moved to, according to your recollection?
Answer. My recollection is that they were at some rather remote section of
Lansing, not East Lansing, at the home of a man and wife whose name I am not
sure I ever knew. They were seldom at home when we met there. I don't recall
their names. I don't recall the street.
Now, does that refresh your recollection ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question.
Mr. ScHERER. Would you say that Dr. Bush's testimony is true or
false?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
_ Mr. ScHERER, Well, now. Dr. Darling, isn't it a fact that the activi-
ties of this group at Michigan State were clouded in secrecy and isn't
it a fact that they were clouded in secrecy because you were connected
with the group, and you. were a member of the faculty ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, let's look at Dr. Bush's testimony with refer-
ence to that :
I frequently had experience, when I was in the group, as I recall, of not know-
ing everything that was going on, so to speak. Many things were sort of clouded
in secrecy.
Then Mi-. Appell asked him, and it will be noted that that was a
voluntary remark on the part of Bush that they were clouded in
secrecy. Mr. Appell properly followed with this question :
Can you recall some of the things that were clouded in secrecy?
and Mr. Bush replied —
I recall having been warned from time to time to not too openly discuss the ac-
tivities of this group, especially Darling's connection with the group. I assumed
that was because he was a faculty member and his association with the group
might not be viewed with much favor from the college administration.
1808 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Now, would ^ou say Dr. Bush's testimony in that respect is true
or false?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, let's see, Dr. Darling. Isn't it a fact that this
group at Michigan State engaged in two types of activities and that
you participated in the first type of these activities and couldn't par-
ticipate in the second type of activities that I am going to outline to
you, because you were a member of the faculty; that you and Dr.
Gainor had the students participate in the second classification to
wliich I am going to refer was not the first activity reading and
discussing Communist literature and the history of the Communist
Party of Soviet Russia. Isn't that the first activity in which thiy
group was engaged ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, let's see again what Professor Bush has to say
about that.
Question. Now, you can recall that some material discussed by this group was
material issued by the Young Communist League?
Answer. I think so. Yes ; materials published by the Young Communist League,
if they publish material, at least it bore their name.
Question. You also can recall this group discussed literature prepared by the
Communist Party?
Answer. Yes; I recall the official history of the Communist Party of the
U. S. S. R. I believe it was published by the Communist Party. It had a red
cover.
Question. That would be the constitution of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union?
Answer. I don't recall whether it contained the constitution. I think they
called it a history.
Would you say that testimony is true or untrue, Dr. Darling ?
Dr. Darling. "I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. ScHERER. Now, the second type of activity in which this group
engaged was just a little more spectacular, was it not. Dr. Darling?
Isn't it a fact that after these meetings in which you were the dominant
person that the group would go out at midnight through Lansing and
East Lansing and put Communist literature on the doorsteps ; wasn't
that one of the activities?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. ScHERER. Don't you remember in connection with the peace
drive that this group did the rather foolish thing of making white
crosses and placing them along the road in accordance with the party
line at that time?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. SciiERER. Well, now, do you recall when this group went down
to Washington and staged a sitdown strike on the front steps of
the Capitol ? I am not saying you "went, but do you remember that?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Walter. Now, may I interrupt, Mr. Chairman, at this point?
What criminal prosecution do you think you could be confronted with
because you ha])pen to know^ that some foolish students came to Wash-
ington and sat on the steps of the Capitol ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Walter. Do you think, under the Constitution, you have a right
to refuse to answer the question I have asked you because, to answer it,
would be in effect, testifying against yourself in a criminal proceeding?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1809
Dr. Darling. Well, some — the fifth amendment is sometimes inter-
preted that way.
Mr. Walter. Yon had better stick to your physics, Doctor.
[Laughter.]
Mr. ScHERER. We can't have any demonstrations. This is a serious
matter, ladies and gentlemen. We want no demonstrations pro or con.
In connection with that last question that I asked you, Dr. Darling,
and this is my last, with reference to the second type of activity in
which this group was engaged, I want to read to you what Dr. Bush
had to say about it.
Question. "Was your group interested in the "Yanks are not coming" campaign,
which was, of course, a part of the Couimunist Party line at that time?
Mr. Bush. As I recall it, yes. I believe this trip to Washington I mentioned
earlier had something to do with the peace and sitdown strikes in front of the
Capitol. I recall one other incident which involved building and installing
some white crosses in the boulevard in East Lansing. I believe it was Memorial
Day and the point of the white crosses was connected with this peace drive.
Question. Was it your group that made the crosses or had the crosses made?
Professor Bush's answer. Yes.
Now, Dr. Darling, do you remember the time that part of this group
was arrested by the police in Lansing, Mich., after they engaged in an
"anti"' demonstration against Gerald Smith, do you recall that?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question.
Mr. Scherer. Wasn't that demonstration right after a meeting of
your group «
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Scherer. Now, let's read Dr. Bush's testimony with respect to
this activity :
Question. Did this group participate in the distribution of literature in Lansing
or on the campus?
Answer. I recall one instance when I stayed out one night distributing leaflets
of some .sort about which I don't remember, but in the town of Lansing. It may
have had something to do with the strike at the time. It may have had some-
thing to do with this peace drive. I don't recall, but I do remember the r.ither
adventurous entertainment of distributing leaflets in the middle of the uig'it on
people's doorsteps. We may have distributed some literature on the campus,
but I don't recall the incident.
Now, Dr. Darling, you being a professor at Michigan State, you did
not actually participate in these Communist activities, did you ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Scherer. Isn't it a fact, Doctor, that you led the discussion and
planned these activities for the organization ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason-
Mr. Scherer, Now, let's again and for the last time, see what Pro-
fessor Bush says about it. Remember, he is in the psychology depart-
ment at Harvard ?
Mr. Appell, after he [Professor Bush] had testified about these
various activities, namely, the sitdown event on the steps of the Capi-
tol and distribution of literature and white crosses, and so forth,
asked this :
Can you recall Darling participating in that?
Answer. I don't recall whether he did or not. My impression was that he was
never active in the dirty work, he was only involved in the discussion and
leadership.
Would you say that that testimony of Dr. Bush was true or false?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason-
1810 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Clardy, do you have some questions ?
Mr. Clardy. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, before I undertake asking some questions I think
that the committee ought to make it perfectly plain on the record that
the two gentlemen from whose testimony you have read, namely, Pro-
fessors Bush and Gainor, should have some explanation of the part
they have played clearly set out.
In other words, they have cooperated with the committee. They
have been most helpful to the committee and to the Congress. Their
testimony indicates quite clearly, that they have been, I think, fully
conscious, since the days they were at the college in my hometown, of
their duties and responsibilities as citizens, and this committee has
expressed to them, and we should express it again here today, an
earnest desire to help them in any way that we can to make sure there
are no reprisals visited upon them.
We understand that the colleges are willing to go along with us on
that, and they have had nothing to do with our producing this testi-
mony here today.
I thought we ought to say that in justice to them. Do you have
anything to add to that, Mr. Kunzig ?
Mr. KuNziG. No.
Mr. Clardt. Of course, the testimony demonstrates — you didn't
get to that— that they severed all their connections with the party
quite some time ago.
Mr. ScHERER. I think that statement was necessary to be made by
you, Mr. Clardy. Thank you for it.
Mr. Clardy. Now, Mr. Witness, while you were at East Lansing,
on the faculty of Michigan State College which, as you probably re-
call, I advised you is about half a mile from my residence there in
East Lansing, while you were there, did you know a man by the name
of Edward Robert Gewirts? My pronounciation may be inaccurate,
but the spelling is correct. Did you know such a man ?
Dr. Darling. I don't recollect him.
Mr. Clardy. You have no recollection whatever?
Dr. Darling. No.
Mr. Clardy. Do you remember that while you were on the faculty,
this gentleman, and I hear counsel suggesting it is pronounced
"Gewirts," but the spelling will govern it — -he was a student who cor-
rected math papers for you ; does that refresh your recollection ?
Dr. Darling. I don't remember any student that corrected mathe-
matics papers for me.
Mr. Clardy. Well, do you recollect whether the man I have named
corrected the math papers for you, whether you recall him as a stu-
dent or not?
Dr. Darling. I don't recall anyone correcting mathematics papers
for me.
Mr. Clardy. I will again ask the question : Do you have any recol-
lection, now that I have attempted to refresh your memory, any recol-
lection whatever of the gentleman whose name I have read to you?
I will help you a little more. This man was a member of the Com-
munist cell to which you belonged, also.
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Clardy. Now, let me tell you what the gentleman had to say
about this same thing, on page 4 of an executive session hearing held
COIMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1811
before me at Lansing on Monday, ^une 8, this year, Mr. Appell, who
sits on my right, asked: "You knew Byron Thorwell Darling?", and
Dr. Gewirts answered, "Yes."
Then the further question, "Was it in a period of time after Dr.
Darling became affiliated with Michigan State College," and the an-
swer was, "Yes."
Does that refresh your recollection ?
Mr. FoRER. The question is. Does that refresh his recollection of
what ?
Mr. Clardy. Whether he knew the gentleman or not.
Mr. FoRER. Whether he knew Gewirts ?
Mr. Clardy. Yes.
Dr. Darling. I recall now that I knew a student by the name of
Gewirts.
Mr. Clardy. I thought you would.
Now, that gentleman has testified, and I have the evidence before
me here, that there was a Communist cell or a cell of Young Com-
munist League or both, on the campus at Michigan State College at
that time, and I asked him this question, "There was such a group
and you and some of the same members that belonged to the on-campus
group also belonged to the group that met off the campus?" And the
explanation, that is the group that was involved in the questions asked
bv the Chairman a few moments ago, and the doctor's answer was,
"Yes."
Now, is the testimony that this did exist both as an oncampus and
an off campus group of which you were a member, is that testimony
true or do you now state that it is not true ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Clardy. Doctor, this testimony was taken under oath by a man
who cooperated with this committee. It is a matter now of record.
Don't 3^ou think, sir, that you had better reconsider that answer and
tell us now, since you have chosen when you were not under oath,
to deny these things, to tell us what the real facts are ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Clardy. Well, which answer do you want the public and this
committee to accept, this answer you are now giving, or that which
you gave to the president of the great university located here, that
you were not a member of the party or any group connected with
it ? Which of those two answers shall we believe ?
Dr. Darling. I believe you are assuming that I gave two answers.
1 didn't give this committee any answer.
Mr. Clardy. Now, passing that for the moment, we will get back
to it a little later. Do you recall two houses in Lansing where the
group we have been discussing held meetings? Do you recall that
there were two houses where the group met ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Clardy. And to assist you in your recollection, so that you may
answer the further questions I am about to ask, I will ask if you know
or knew a man by the name of Arthur Wright ?
Dr. Darling. Yes. I recall a man by that name.
Mr. Clardy. And where did you know him ?
Dr. Darling. I — I knew him in East Lansing.
Mr. Clardy. Was he a student at the college where you were teach-
ing?
1812 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. How long did you know him ?
Dr. Darling. I don't remember.
Mr. Clardy. When did you first get acquainted with him?
Dr. Darling. I don't recall that.
Mr. Clardy. Was it at about the time you came to the college at
East Lansing?
Dr. Darling. It could be.
Mr. Clardy. I am not asking for "could-be's" ; is that the fact or
not?
Dr. Darling. Well, I say yes.
Mr. Clardy. Did you know his wife, Lois?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. Did you get acquainted with her about the same time-
that you became acquainted with Mr. Wright?
Dr. Darling. I don't recall — I don't recall.
Mr. Clardy. Do you know where they lived ?
Dr. Darling. I can't recall.
Mr. Clardy. Does the address, 219 Hill Street, Lansing, refresh
your recollection?
Dr. Darling. No, it doesn't.
Mr. Clardy. Isn't it a fact, Doctor, that you attended Communist
or Young Communist League cell meetings at that address with Mr.
and Mrs. Wright?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Clardy. Doctor, Dr. Gewirts has testified concerning these-
meetings that you attended to this length, when we inquired where
the meetings were held, "They were held at a house down in Lansing,.
Mich., where Arthur Wright lived. There was a girl by the name
of Lois Taft who lived there also."
Now, did you know Lois Taft before she became Mrs. Wright?
Dr. Darling. Yes, I believe so.
Mr. Clardy. What is that?
Dr. Darling. I believe so.
Mr. Clardy. How long were you in East Lansing, connected with
the college, all together?
Dr. Darling. A little over a year.
Mr. Clardy. You knew these people during that entire time, didn't
you?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. And do you want this committee
Dr. Darling. I wouldn't say the entire time.
Mr. Clardy. There may be a feAv days left out, but substantially it
was the entire period we have just discussed, wasn't it ?
Dr. Darling. Well, about that.
Mr. Clardy. Do you want to leave the impression with this conunit-
tee that you never attended a Young Communist League meeting at
219 Hill'Street, Lansing?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Clardy. Did you know a women by the name of Goldie Gregu-
rek? Do you know this woman, whom I shall call "Goldie" for short?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that (luestiou for the same reasons.
Mr. Clardy. Did you know her husband, Frank?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1813^
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer tJiat question for the same reasons,
Mr. Clardy. Witness, I show yon a photostatic copy of an article out
of the Lansing State Journal showing Frank Gregurek in a picture,,
and ask you if you recognize the picture as the man Frank Gregurek
about whom I have been inquiring ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Clardy. Look at the article and note that I believe it gives the
address of 401 Beaver Street at Lansing, Mich. Is it there? It gives
his place of employment, and I am not certain whether it has the
address or not. Does it ?
Mr. FoRER. No ; it has 700 Sharon Street.
Mr. Clardy. That is a place of business, where he works.
I am addressing myself to the doctor; do you see it there?
Dr. Darling. I don't see it.
Mr. Clardy. Does the address 401 Beaver Street refresh your recol-
lection as to Avhere some of these meetings I have been discussing were
held?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons-
Mr. Clardy. To further refresh your recollection. Witness, I show
you a photograph of the house in question. It has been put in evidence
before us and I ask you, after looking at that, if you do not recognize
that as the house where Frank and Goldie Gregurek lived; namely,.
401 Beaver Street, Lansing, Mich. ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Ci^RDY. We have sworn testimony before us identifying that
house and identifying that location as having been the places occupied
by Frank and Goldie Gregurek, and they have themselves so admitted
before us.
Mr. KuNziG. Let the record show the picture of Gregurek is 3 for
identification, and the house is 4 for identification.
Mr. Clardy. It has been referred to before, but it is as w^ell to mark it
here. Thank you, Mr. Counsel.
Witness, did you know a William Martin w^hile you were at East
Lansing? All my questions are dealing with that at the moment.
Dr. Darling. Yes ; I knew William Martin.
Mr. Clardy. William Martin has been identified in sworn testi-
mony taken before us as a member of the Young Communist League
cell to which you also belonged, according to the sworn testimony pre-
sented by the several witnesses we have mentioned.
Now, do you recall ever attending any of the meetings of the Young
Communist League at either of the addresses I have included in pre-
vious questions?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer the question for the same reasons.
Mr. Clardy. Did you know an Edward Simons ?
Dr. Darling. Yes ; I knew an Edward Simons.
Mr. Clardy. He was connected with the music faculty at the school,
was he not?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. Wlien did you last see Mr. Simons ?
Dr. Darling. I don't recall.
Mr. Clardy. Was it recently ?
Dr. Darling. No ; it wasn't recently.
Mr. Clardy. Well, did you see him within the last several years ?
35663—53 6
1814 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Dr. Darling. Well, I — the question is "the last several years." That
is so indefinite, I would say perhaps yes.
Mr. Clardy. Before I finish that line, I want to ask you this, to
complete the picture : Haven't you had a phone conversation with him
within the last 2 weeks concerning your appearance before this com-
mittee and the appearance, of course, of Mr. Simons who has also
appeared before the committee ?
Dr. Darling. Not to the best of my recollection.
Mr. Clardy. Have you had any communication with him directly
or indirectly within the last 2 weeks ?
Dr. Darling. Not to my recollection.
Mr. Clardy. You haven't been in consultation by phone or other-
wise with his attorney, with him, or anyone else concerning the ap-
pearance of either of you two gentlemen before this committee ?
Dr. Darling. Not that I know of.
Mr. Clardy. Does the name Isadore Neeclleman refresh your recol-
lection, and I will tell you that Mr. Needleman is an attorney for Mr.
Simons and he has an office at 165 Broadway in New York City?
Dr. Darling. No ; that doesn't refresh my memory.
Mr. Clardy. As a matter of fact, witness, hasn't there been a frank
discussion between you in which you have sought to have him refuse
to testify concerning you before this committee?
Dr. Darling. The answer to that, to the best of my knowledge, is no.
INIr. Clardy. What do you mean "to the best of my knowledge"?
You would surely know on a matter of that kind whether there has been
such a conversation.
Dr. Darling. The answer is "No."
Mr. Clardy. I drop the 2-week limitation and ask you if at any
time there has been such ?
Dr. Darling. No.
Mr. Clardy. At no time ?
Dr. Darling. No.
Mr. Clardy. Now, forgetting the 2-week limitation, have you had
any contacts directly or indirectly at any time within the period of
time that elapsed since you first appeared before this committee at
Washington ?
Dr. Darling. No.
Mr. Clardy. None whatever ?
Dr. Darling. None whatever.
Mr. Clardy. Now, we go back to the line of inquiry that I was on
earlier. Did you visit with Mr. Simons at some place in the Nation
in the year 1946 ?
Dr. Darling. Well, I don't recall.
Mr. Clardy. What?
Dr. Darling. I don't recall.
Mr. Clardy. To help your recollection, wasn't it a meeting that took
place in the New York City apartment of Mr. Simons ?
Now, witness, I should tell you that this question is based upon
sworn testimony taken before this committee. Think well before you
answer.
Dr. Darling. I am a friend of his, and I visited him there, but I
don't remember the dates.
Mr. Clardy. Well, it may have been about the time I indicated, the
year 1946, then ; but you are not sure, is that right?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1815
Dr. Darling. That is right.
Mr. Clardy. All right.
Did you at that time discuss the associations you had had together
in the Young Communist League during the period you were at Mich-
igan State College?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.*
Mr. Clardy. Now, Doctor, Dr. Gewirts was interrogated about the
same subject that Bush and Gainor were interrogated about, and that
is the part that you played in the Communist conspiracy or cell at
East Lansing, and they liave testified, as you have heard here today,
to the effect that you were sort of kept in the back room, so to speak.
I want to read you some testimony on the same subject by Dr. Gewirts,
and then ask you a question. [Eeading :]
The impression I bad at this stage was that he [Dr. Darling] made a deliberate
attempt not to be obvious at anj meetings.
My question is. Is this sworn testimony given by the doctor true or
ialse?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer tliat question for the same reasons.
Mr. Clardy. At another place, I asked the witness Gewirts if it
wasn't quite plain and obviously a fact that you not only were a Com-
munist but that you had played cagey and didn't expose yourself to
public gaze ; and, in answer to that, didn't he say "That is fair. I am
trying to tell you exactly what happened," and he goes on to tell us,
"That is exactly the way it happened."
Now, are those words, those statements, by Dr. Gewirts true or false?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Clardy. By the way, did you know Peter Fagan who lived in
East Lansing, who was a newspaperman working for one of the De-
troit newspapers at this same time?
Dr. Darling. Yes; I
Mr. Clardy. What is that?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. Do you remember his wife Sarah ?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. Did you ever attend any Young Communist League
meetings attended by either or both of those people ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons,
Mr. Clardy. Now, Dr. Gewirts had something more to say about the
subject of the teaching of music, and it was made quite plain in the
sworn testimony that you actually complained that music was not
written in a way to carry out the Soviet school of thought, and a ques-
tion along that line was asked him, and he says, "Yes ; that was true."
Is that testimony true or false ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer for the same reasons.
Mr. Clardy. Then another question was brought out in Dr. Gewirts'
testimony, and that was that you were a sort of supreme court in the
Communist apparatus in the area there, and Mr. Appell, who sits on
my right here, asked this question : "Would there have been any pos-
sibility of the members of the unit going to Darling in order to have
Darling put them straight as to what the correct line should be ?", and
the answer, "Yes."
Is that testimony true or false ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
1816 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. Claedy. Now, yesterday, I sought to learn how long you had'
lived at various places in Detroit, and during the recess overnight, I
have been doing some checking. Isn't it a fact. Doctor, that you lived
at the Sylvester Avenue address for somewhere between o and 4 years?
Dr. Darling. Well, I don't know whether that would be the exact
length of time or not.
Mr. Clardy. Do you remember the name of a store there in Detroit
called Himmelhoch's ?
Dr. Darling. No.
Mr. Clardy. You know there is such a store ?
Dr. Darling. I know there is such a store ; yes.
Mr. Clardy. Do you recall there was a credit application made for
and on behalf of you in which it was asserted on February 7, 1946, that
you had lived at this Sylvester Avenue address for a period of 3i/2:
years prior to the date of the application for credit ?
Dr. Darling. I don't remember that.
Mr. Clardy. Do you remember that?
Dr. Darling. No.
Mr. Clardy. To get to the nubbin of it, isn't it a fact that you did
live there for several years, at least?
Will you mark this application as an exhibit?
Mr. Kunzig. Darling exhibit No. 5, for identification.
Mr. Clardy. Didn't you live there for several years, at least ?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Sciierer. The exhibit will be received and marked as indicated
by counsel.
(Darling exhibit No. 5 was marked for identification and received,
in evidence.)
Mr. Kunzig. At this time, for the record, may I offer Darling ex-
hibits No. 3 and 4; the picture of Gregurek, 3, and the house, 4, and
ask that they be admitted?
Mr. Sciierer. They will be so admitted, Mr. Counsel.
(Darling exhibits No. 3 and 4 were marked for identification and
received in evidence.)
Mr. Clardy. Now, a final question, witness, and I am done on this :
Isn't it a fact that while you were at Michigan State College, you
were exactly in line with the SAVorn testimony in the hands of this com-
mittee, actually the directing genius or head of a cell of the Young
Communist League, and that most of the members were students, but
that you and a few others on the faculty were also members? Is that
a correct statement of fact or not?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that for the aforementioned reasons..
Mr. Clardy. That is all I have, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Sciierer. Mr. Walter?
Mr. Walter. No questions.
Mr. Sciierer. Mr. Kunzig, do you have any questions ?
IVIr. Kunzig. May we have a break at this point ?
Mr. SciiEiiER. We were going to have a break, but counsel for the
witness has indicated that he would rather complete the testimony
of Dr. Darling. We asked him just a few minutes ago whether he
wanted a break, feeling that Dr. Darling lias been on the stand quite
some time. He has indicated that he didn't want a break.
Mr. Clardy. It has only been an hour and about 15 minutes, Mr^
Chairman.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1817
Mr. ScriERER. INIay I ask, Mr. Kiinzig, do you have some questions?
Mr. KuNziG. Yes, I have questions, and I would like some time.
Mr. SciiERER. We will have a 15-minute recess at this time.
(A short recess was taken.)
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Counsel, I understand you have a few more ques-
tions you want to ask the witness. You may proceed.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, just a few.
Mr. Walter. May I interrupt before you get started? I have a
few questions. I didn't know there would be more, or I would have
interrogated the witness before,
Mr. KuNziG. Yes, sir.
Mr. Walter. Doctor, you have given as the reason for refusing to
answer questions propounded by members of this committee the posi-
tion taken by one of the principal beneficiaries of our liberty. Dr.
Einstein. The fact of the matter is, you refused to answer these
questions in Washington before Dr. Einstein made his gratuitous
statement, didn't you 'I
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. Walter. So that it wasn't what Dr. Einstein said; you are just
merely adding that reason to whatever reasons you had when j'ou re-
fused to answer the same questions in Washington? Did you read
the comment that David Lawrence made about the statement — con-
cerning the statement made by Dr. Einstein ?
Dr. Darling. No, I didn't.
Mr. Walter. I would recall it to you
Dr. Darling. Well, Representative Walter, I understand that you
said awdiile ago that I ought to stick to my physics. And I would like
to tell you that there is nothing that I would like better to do.
Mr. Walter. I wish you would devote the time to that that you
devote to extracurricular activities.
You mentioned a new field that you were making inquiry into.
You said that ;/our work in that field was interrupted because your
appearances before this committee interrupted that. It was some-
thing in which the Air Force was concerned ; what was this field ?
Dr. Darling. Theory of the ozone molecule.
Mr. Walter. Ozone molecule. Why would the Air Force be in-
terested in the ozone molecule?
Dr. Darling. I don't know why the Air Force would be interested
in the ozone molecule. I coidd speculate on those things, but what
good does that do ? My only interest is in working on this molecule,
contributing what knowledge I could.
Mr. Walter. Yes, you were working on this molecule knowing full
well that whatever research would produce w^ould have military value,
didn't you ?
Dr. Darling. T didn't know what value it would have.
Mr. Walter. You suspected that it might have military value,
didn't you ?
Dr. Darling. No, I didn't suspect it might have military value at
all.
Mr. Walter. Could it have had military value?
Dr. Darling. I don't know.
Mr. Walter. At the time you were
Dr. Darling. I don't see how the understanding — well, put it this
way : The basic knowledge of physics, understanding of the f unda-
1818 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
mentals may have all kinds of applications. My interest is in funda-
mental physics.
Mr. Walter. But weren't you being compensated by the United
States Air Force for the work, the research work you were doing?
Dr. Darling. I received a check from the research foundation which
I understand makes some contractual relationships with the Air
Force.
Mr. Walter. Yes ; we have gotten to it finally, so that you were en-
gaged in worlv in which the Air Force was directly interested and for
which you were being paid indirectly ; is that it ?
Dr. Darling. I presume that is it.
Mr. Walter. Now, at the time you were engaged in this work for
the armed services of the United States, were you a member of the
Communist Party?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason,
Mr. Walter. That is all.
Mr. Clardy, May I ask one further question on that same line, Mr,
Chairman ?
Mr, Scherer. Yes, Mr. Clardy.
Mr. Clardy. You indicated there was great value to be placed on
the interrupted work that you have been doing. What assurance
does this nation have that the results of your labor will not be placed
in the hands of the enemies of America ? You have refused to answer
all questions here concerning your Communist backgi-ound or affilia-
tions, so I am asking you : What assurance have we that if these experi-
ments had been carried through to fruition, the results would not
have been placed in the same channels that took much other atomic
information to Russia.
(Dr. Darling conferred with Mr. Forer.)
Mr. Clardy. May the record show that he has conferred at some
length with his attorney before answering that question.
Mr. Forer. We want to confer a little longer, too.
(Dr. Darling conferred with Mr. Forer.)
Mr. Clardy. Mr. Chairman, it is obvious that they will consult
all day and hold up the hearing. I withdraw the question.
Mr.' Forer. Oh, no.
(Dr. Darling conferred with Mr. Forer.)
Mr. Clardy. The question is withdrawn. You have taken prac-
tically all day.
Dr. Darling. I would like to say
Mr. Clardy. Counsel — never mind; you are not being addressed
for any question at this time.
Dr. Darling. I would like to state that the scientific work that I do
is of a nature to be published in journals, and I think that that is one
of the things that will work to the benefit of physics in this country,
the lack of free exchange of physical knowledge.
Mr. Clardy. Mr. Chairman, that is all I had. He might as well
have said he refused to answer, because he didn't.
Mr. Scherer. Do you have any questions ?
Mr. Kunzig. Yes ; I have.
Dr. Darling, I have here a photostat of a document marked Dar-
ling Exhibit No. 6 for identification, which purports to be an en-
velope and with the Darling Exhibit No. Y for identification, a letter
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1819
which was in the envelope, a photostatic copy of said letter. I would
like to ask you to examine these first, and I will have Mr. Appell bring
them to you.
Did you send that letter in that envelope to Art Wright who has
been mentioned here this morning ?
Mr. ScHERER. I am sorry ; I was listening to the gentleman ; will you
repeat the question, please ?
Mr. KuNziG. We are waiting for an answer. The question was:
Did you send that letter in that envelope shown there as Exhibit 6
and 7 for identification to Art Wright, who has been mentioned pre-
viously here this morning, and whom you stated that you knew?
Dr. Darling. I don't recall this letter, but this looks like my
signature.
Mr. KuNziCx. Is it your signature on the envelope in the upper left-
hand corner on exhibit 6 ?
Dr. Darling. That looks like my signature.
Mr. KuNziG. And on the letter ?
Dr. Darling. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, I should like to, in connection with
this group, this Young Communst League group about which we have
had testimony this morning, and whether or not Dr. Darling knew the
people involved, and whether they knew him, I should like to read
this letter into evidence and point out that this letter was written
about — on or about April 22, 1941, which was just prior to the invasion
of Russia by Germany. In other words, it was during the "peace
line" when the Communists in this country were for peace and all
against our participation in any war.
Mr. Clardy. Counsel, is it not a fact that the envelope and the let-
terhead itself have the name of the college on them? Will you put
that in the record ?
Mr. KuNziG. I will, thank you.
Mr. ScHERER. Your request is granted ; you may read it in evidence.
Mr. KuNziG. At this time, I offer in evidence Exhibits 6 and 7.
Mr. ScHERER. They may be received.
(Darling Exhibits Nos. 6 and 7 were marked for identification and
received in evidence.)
Mr. KuNziG. It is written in handwriting —
Dr. B. T. Darling, after 5 days, return to Michigan State College, Department
of Mathematics, East Lansing, Mich.
Mr. Clardy. Just a minute. The name "Darling" is in writing; the
rest is in print.
Mr. KuNziG. Yes; that is in handwriting. That is what he has
testified.
Mr. Clardy. Post mark ?
Mr. KuNziG. Lansing, 2 : 13 p. m., Lansing, Mich. Written to Mr.
Arthur Wright, W-r-i-g-h-t, 149 Pierpont Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
May I state for the record that Arthur Wright, in his testimony be-
fore this committee, admitted under oath that at that time, he lived at
149 Pierpont Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Ma}' I also add that JSIr. Wright refused to answer questions with re-
gard to Communist Party affiliations on the ground of the fifth amend-
ment, such as we have had here this morning.
1820 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
The letter which you have given me permission to read :
To Whom It May Concern:
J have known Artlinr and Lois Wright for about 2 years and assert they
were planning to get married last June, and these plans were not at all con-
ditioned, by the present draft, since it was not at that time in existence.
From what I know of this couple, I do not feel their appeal for deferment
springs from the fear or lack of knowledge of the situation we have, but
the reasons come from the fear that here at home, the democratic way of life,
which guarantees civil liberties and pursuit of happiness, must be done. That
you do this by interfering as little as possible with the lives of people by
allowing them to achieve some place in the world, by their having a job and
being proud of it, that you do not create a strong democratic army by taking
people when they will only feel resentment to it. In times like these, with Hitler
abroad, we must look to our defenses in the broader sense of the word, so that
what has happened there may not happen here. Yes, our army must he strong,
but really so, hence I would consider carefully its selection. It is this import-
ant .iob which rests on your shoulders as members of either the draft or appeal
board. A job which demands painstaking consideration of the details surround-
ing each case and requires a real consideration of the human elements involved
and cannot be therefore a rule of thumb, mechanical thin.y. I submit these facts
as beliefs to you in the complete faith that you will act justly.
Yours truly,
B. T. Darling.
Mr. Clardy. Tliat is written in support of a claim of deferrment by
a man who has been identified by several witnesses in our record as
being a member of the Communist group in these discussion classes?
Mr. KuNziG, That is correct.
We have liad testimony that Messrs. Gainor, Bush, and Wright all
knew Darling — Garrett is a man we haA^e talked about here as Gewirts.
Garrett and Gewirts are the same person. Mr. Gewirts has the name
Garrett, had his name legally changed in a record of law, since that
time. He was known as (jewirts.
Mr. Clardy. I used the correct name that he was known by at the
time.
Mr. KuNziG. That is right. I wanted the record to show that we
had the same person in these two names.
We then have Mr. Gainor testifying that he knew Mr. Darling
and testifying that he, Mr. Gainor, was in the Young Communist
League. Mr. Bush, the same way, and Garrett admitting that he
corrected Darling's mathematics papers, and he was in the Young
Communist League.
In other words, Mr. Chairman, this entire group were members of
the Young Communist League, and they met regularly at that period
of time in Michigan.
You have the testimony regarding Gregurek, and I have one other
exhibit which I should like to offer. We have here in our posses-
sion
Mr. ScHERER. May I interrupt you, counsel ; do I understand that
you are giving us a resume of the evidence? If so, for what purpose?
Mr. KuN/iG. I want the record to be clear as to these points, leading
up to the testimony of Mr. Gregurek.
Mr. Clardy. Preliminary to questions you are going to ask?
Mr. KuxzTG. That is correct.
Mr. SciiERER. Proceed.
Mr. KuNziG. I have two documents marked "Exhibits 8 and 9, Dar-
ling," which are copies of a 1939 membership dues book, and initials
in these books are "G. G.," standing for "Goldie Gregurek." I wish
COAOIUNIST ACTIVITIES IX THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1821
this to be stated for the record, that the initials "G. G.," in receipt of
Commnnist Party membership dues, are the initials of Goldie Gregu-
rek, and also, sir, may the record show that investigation has shown
that Goldie Gregurek was a member of the State Central Committee
of the Communist Party of Michigan, and financial secretary of the
Communist Party in the Lansing area during the period of time we
Mere discussing this morning.
Mr. ScHERER. I didn't follow you closely. To whom is that receipt
issued ?
]yir. KuNziG. Investigation has shown that this is the book of a John
Sova.
The question of putting this on the record is to show that Mrs.
Gregurek was actually receiving funds for the Communist Party, and
it was in the Gregureks' home that a lot of these meetings took place.
Mr. ScHERER. I understand now, Mr. Counsel.
They may be received as exhibits, as you liave indicated.
( Darling exhibits Nos. 8 and 9 were marked for identification and
received in evidence.)
Mr. KuNziG. We have the photographs of Mr. Gregurek and his
liome.
Dr. Darling, having heard all this testimony this morning as you
have, and having listened to the statements of other people, a profes-
sor at Pittsburgh, a professor'at Harvard, having heard these people
tell through their testimony that they were members of the Young
Communist group which met there, and that you were tlie leader, one
of the main leaders of this group, I should like to ask you once again,
were you a leader of this group, und did you not attend these meetings ?
Dr. Darlixg. I refuse to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. KuNziG. I should like to turn once again to the testimony of
Professor Busli, because of one important feature which I think should
become a part of this record.
Mr. Chairman, there has been a great deal of discussion publicly
and in the press, and in other places to the effect that teachers should
be free and should be able to say what they wish and that there is this
discussion of academic freedom; and that everybody should be able
to do anything or say anything and the point that I believe this com-
mittee and others have made, and attempted to make, is that a Com-
numist teacher is not free, and you have had testimony here yesterday
and today that a Communist teacher is not free.
I should like to read the testimony of Mr. Bush in re this particular
point. [Reading :]
Mr. Bush. I recall having considerable reservations about this group from the
beginning. I think I thought the group was at least being pro-Communist. We
were certainly studying and reading Marxist literature, Communist literature.
I frequently [this is Mr. Bush] had differences of opinion with people, and I
recall a numlier of instances of being squelched by Gainor and liy Darling. They
would accuse me of opportunism or some other catch phrase, whenever I objected
to something or asked a question about something being discussed.
Then Mr. Appell, sitting at my left, asked —
In other words, your recollection is that you and other members of this group
were supposed to accept that which was set forth in the document and that you
were reading or discussing as factual?
Mr. Bush. I remember strong pressure being put on me at times to accept
what was said in these publications and not to disagree with what I had been
reading.
1822 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. Appell. An objection on your part, disagreeing, brought censure from
Gainer and Darling?
Mr. Bush. Yes, either arguing the point by itself or name calling, if the former
did not seem to be practical. In all these discussions, it was evident to me that
Darling and Gainor had more facts and arguments at their disposal than I
did, and I was not informed on political matters or Communist Party literature.
Mr. Darling, the question I would like to ask you is this : You said
you were only interested, a few moments ago, in fundamental physics.
Did these discussions transcend fundamental physics? Did they go
a bit beyond fundamental physics ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. KuNziG. Weren't these questions, sir, as a matter of fact, and
these discussions, not about fundamental physics, but about com-
munism, world affairs and the position of the United States as against
the position of Eussia?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the aforemen-
tioned reasons.
Mr. KuNziG. One final question, sir. You spoke of the importance
of your work. You spoke of the importance of the physics work you
were doing. You spoke of the Air Force wanting such work and
needing such work, and this is my question : In the present state of
world affairs, Dr. Darling, do you honestly believe that the United
States Government should employ a scientist on a vitally important
project who refuses to answer questions about Communist activities,
and who shrouds these activities in secrecy and mystery?
Dr. Darling. Well, I think that the work that I was doing was
valuable, was a contribution to my country, and I think that the
Government — not the Government, l3ut the project I was working on
should hire me back.
Mr. Kunzig. That doesn't answer the question. Dr. Darling, as to
whether the Government should hire somebody who has taken the
fifth amendment as you have, and has not testified frankly and
honestly and correctly before a committee of this kind.
Mr. Scherer. Mr." Kunzig, I think he has answered the question.
Not satisfactorily, of course, but he has answered.
Mr. Kunzig. All right.
Mr. Clardy. May I ask counsel a question, Mr. Chairman?
You have there, I believe, letters dealing with the deferment mat-
ters from other members of the group. I think they ought to be
marked as exhibits in this case.
Mr. Kunzig. That is correct, sir; I do, and I would like to offer as
No. 10, Darling exhibit No. 10, a letter from Charles Gainor
similar
Mr. Scherer. Does this refer to Dr. Darling?
Mr. Kunzig. No, I am just following the question asked by Mr.
Clardy.
Mr. Scherer. I think they should be in evidence, but lets put
them in evidence after Dr. Darling is off the stand. They do not
refer to Dr. Darling, but to other men.
Do you have any further questions to Dr. Darling?
Mr. Kunzig. No.
Mr. Walter. Before you close, I would like to ask one other ques-
tion. Doctor, you said in your opinion the Government should hire
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1823
you back to continue the work that you have been doing. Of course,
if that very, very remote thing should happen, you would be compelled
to sign an application for employment in which you would be required
to answer the question whether or not you were a member of the Com-
munist Party. How would you answer such a question ?
Dr. Darling. I refuse to answer that question for the same reasons.
Mr. Walter, So then, you would put as an answer to the question
on form 57 : Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Com-
munist Party ? : "I refuse to answer that question" ?
Mr. ScHERER. He might say, as he did before the university presi-
dent, might say, "I am not a member of the Communist Party" because
it would not be under oath.
Mr. Walter. This form is under oath ; it is an affidavit form.
Mr. ScHERER. Are there any more questions, gentlemen?
Mr. Walter. I would like to have an answer.
Mr. ScHERER. He said he refused to answer. I interrupted.
Are there any more questions ?
The witness is excused and discharged from his subpena.
Mr. KuNziG. May I at this point pursuant to your request, sir, put
on the record as what we will call exhibit A and exhibit B, a part of
this record, a letter from Charles Gainor about whom there has been
testimony and whose testimony has been read to the committee, "letter
A, to whom it may concern," draft board letter, about Arthur Wright
and Lois Wright.
Mr. Clardt. Letters seeking to persuade them to defer him ?
Mr. KuNziG. That is right. And a letter from Edward Simons,
an instructor in music, about whom there has been testimony, letters
with regard to def errment for Mrs. Lois Wright and Mr. Lois Wright,
to whom it may be concerned.
Mr. ScHERER. These may be received.
(Exhibits A and B were marked for identification and received in
evidence.)
Mr. KuNziG. The deferrment is for Mr. Arthur Wright, but the
letter concerns both.
Mr. ScHERER. Proceed with the next witness.
Mr. KuNziG. The next witness is Mrs. Flora Webster.
Mr. ScHERER. The witness will raise her hand.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you shall give to this sub-
committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you God ?
Mrs. Webster. I do.
Mr. KuNziG. Let the record note that Mr. Forer, the same counsel
who appeared with preceding witnesses, is also representing Mrs.
Flora Webster.
Would you state your name, Mrs. Webster ?
TESTIMONY OF TXORA WEBSTER, ACCOMPANIED BY HER COUNSEL,
JOSEPH FORER
Mrs. Webster. Mrs. Flora Webster.
Mr. KuNziG. And your correct address, please ?
Mrs. Webster. 4625 East 15th, Tucson, Ariz.
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Webster, could you give the committee a resume
of your educational background?
1824 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mrs. Webster. Well, I finished grade scliool and high school oiily^
and then I took an evening class to brush up in shorthand later, high
school. The high school was Frontenac, at Frontenac, Kans., and the
evening class was taken at the Houston High School.
Mr. KuNziG. What date did you finish your education ?
Mrs. Webster. I finished high school in 1937, and that was Fronte-
nac High School, and I just recently took the brushup course in^
shorthand.
Mr. KuNziG. I see. When were you married, what year?
Mrs. Webster. 1940.
Mr. KuNziG. And what is your husband's name, Mrs. Webster?
Mrs. Webster. Willard Parker Webster.
Mr. KuNziG. Pardon me ?
Mrs. Webster. Willard Parker Webster.
Mr. KuNziG. Willard Parker Webster ?
Mrs. Webster. Yes, sir.
Mr. KuNziG. Does he have a nickname of any kind ?
Mrs. Webster. Ben.
Mr. KuNziG. Ben Webster. Now, if I am correct, you are the
sister of Barbara Darling, who testified here previously? Is that
correct ?
Mrs. Webster. That is correct.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, would you give the committee a resume of your
employment background, Mrs. Webster, please ?
Mrs. Webster. Well, I sort of expected that. I will read it.
Mr. KuNziG. You mean you guessed that we might ask that question ?
Mrs. Webster. That is right. I made a list because I have had quite
a few part-time jobs.
Mr. KuNziG. All right. Would you read from your list ?
Mrs. Webster. This may not even be all of them.
Mr. KuNziG. To the best of your recollection.
Mrs. Webster. That is it, to the best of my recollection.
Mr. KuNziG. Certainly.
Mrs. Webster. I began to work, my first job was at L. A. Young
Spring & Wire Corp., some time in 1937.
Mr. KuNziG. May I suggest you go a little slower so we will be sure
to get the record straight in this ? Don't talk quite as fast, if you don't
mind?
Mrs. Webster. Did you get that?
The next jobs were at various markets in the Detroit area, then from
1943 to approximately 1948, I worked in the various locals of the
United Automobile Workers of the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions in the Detroit area, and also for the Fur & Leather Workers of
America.
Mr. KuNziG. Fur & Leather Workers of America ?
Mrs. Webster. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. That is the same union we had testimony about tliat
was thrown out of the CIO because of Communist activity?
Mrs. WeBvSTer. I heard that yesterday.
Mr. KuNziG. You didn't know that until yesterday?
Mrs. Webster. I was never aware
Mr. KuNziG. You were not aware that it was thrown out because of
Communist activity?
Mrs. Webster. No.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1825
Mr. KuNziG. Proceed.
Mrs. Webster. In 1949 and 1950, I worked for a physician in the
Tucson area. In 1951, 1952, for the Ford agency in California. In
1952, Southern Arizona Bank & Trust Co., Tucson, and up to the pres-
ent time, the post office at Tucson, Ariz.
Mr. KuNziG. In the post office?
Mrs. Webster. Yes, sir.
Mr. KuNziG. I will come back to the post office employment in a
few moments.
Mrs. Webster, did you ever know a Toby Baldwin ?
Mrs. Y^'^ebster. I don't recollect knowing anybody by that name.
Mr. KuNziG. Pardon me?
Mrs. Webs<ter. I do not recollect knowing anyone by that name.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you know a Mrs. Bereniece Baldwin who is also
known as Toby Baldwin ? "Toby" is a nickname.
Mrs. Webster. I don't know anyone by the name of Baldwin.
Mr. KuNziG. That is B-a-1-d-w-i-n, Mrs. Bereniece or Toby Bald-
win. Think well.
Mrs. Webster. I can't remember. I can't remember anyone by that
name, sir.
Mr. KuNziG. That would be in or about Detroit, Mich., in or about
1943, 1944, 1945; does that help refresh your recollection?
Mrs. Webster. I knew a great many people in that time.
Mr. KuNziG. I see.
Mrs. Webster. And I don't remember everybody that I met or
knew.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you ever hear of the 14th Congressional Club
of the Communist Party of Detroit?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer that question on the basis of
my privilege under the fifth amendment.
Mr. KuNsiG. _You refuse to answer that question on the ground that
it might incriminate you, is that correct ?
Mrs. Webster. Yes, sir.
Mr. KuNziG. And you don't know Toby Baldwin or can't recall
ever having known Toby Baldwin?
Mrs. Webster. I don't recall her.
Mr. KuNziG. Let's see if I can refresh your recollection. Will you
please bring Mrs. Baldwin in the room? I believe she is waiting out-
side, through the back, please.
(Mrs. Bereniece Baldwin entered the hearing room at this point.)
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Webster this lady who just came in the room is
Mrs. Toby Baldwin. I ask you to look at her and see if you know her.
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer that question on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. Thank you very much, Mrs. Baldwin. We will hear
from you later. Take a seat, please.
Now, isn't it a fact, Mrs. Webster, that you were a member of the
14th Congressional Club of the Communist Party in Detroit ?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer that question on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. Isn't it a fact that you were a member of the Com-
munist Party ?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer that question on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. Have you ever been a member of the Communist
Party?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer that question on the same basis.
1826 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. KuNziG. Have you ever been a member of a group which sought
to overthrow the Government of the United States by force or
violence ?
Mrs. Webster. Not to my knowledge.
Mr. KuNziG. You refuse to answer, whether you are a member of
the Communist Party, but not to your knowledge have you ever been
a member of a group that seeks to overthrow the Government of the
United States by force and violence ?
Mrs. Webster. I am not a person of force and violence.
Mr. KuNziG. Let me remind you for your information and perhaps
to assist you a bit here that your sister testified yesterday that when
the same situation came up that she was not now a member or a group
which sought to overthrow the Government by force and violence,
but you are being asked whether you were ever at any time a member
of a group which seeks to overthrow the Government by force and
violence ?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer that question on the same ground.
Mr. KuNziG. It is the same question I asked you a few minutes ago,
but now you refuse ?
Mr. Scherer. No ; she has answered.
Wait a minute.
Mr. Walter. Excuse me.
Mr. KuNziG. Her answer was "No" to that question.
Mr. ScPiERER. The answer to the last question was the fifth amend-
ment, as I remember. If the witness wants to change the answer,
she may do so.
Mrs. Webster. Will you repeat the question, please ?
Mr. KuNziG. I have here a document marked "Webster Exhibit
No. 1" for identification and in order that the witness may have a
chance to examine it, I ask Mr. Appell to show it to the witness and to
her counsel.
Now, Mrs. Webster, you have seen this Webster Exhibit No. 1 for
identification, I ask you if it wasn't your application for Federal
employment ?
Mrs. Webster. Yes, it is.
Mr. Ktjnzig. It is a photostatic copy of your own application, isn't
that right?
Mrs. Webster. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. This was dated September 20, 1952, and it is signed
on the back, Mrs. Flora Webster, is that correct ?
Mrs. Webster. That is correct.
Mr. KuNziG. Prior to that signature is stated :
I certify that the statements made by me in tliis application are true, complete,
and correct to the best of my knowledge, belief, and are made in good faith.
Question 17 says —
Are you or have you ever been a member of any organization which advocates
the overthrow of our form of government or advocates or approves acts of force
or violence to deny other persons their rights under the United States Consti-
tution or seeks to alter our form of government by unconstitutional means?
and there is a little box with a cross mark in it by the word "No."
COMIMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1827
Was that question in that employment form and did you answer it?
Mrs. Webster. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. And that was your answer on September 20, 1952 ?
Mrs. Webster. That is right.
Mr. KuNziG. Do you consider the Communist Party an organiza-
tion seeking to overthrow the Government of the United States by
force or violence?
Mrs. Webster. Not to my knowledge.
Mr. KuNZiG. Not to your knowledge.
Now, was your husband ever an employee of the Federal
Government ?
Mrs. Webster. Yes, he was.
Mr. KuNziG. When was that, and what was his employment so far
as you can recall ?
Mrs. Webster. I don't remember the exact dates. It was while we
were in Detroit.
Mr. KuNziG. While you were in Detroit ?
Mrs. Webster. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. What was his job?
Mrs. Webster. Mail carrier.
Mr. KuNziG. A mail carrier?
Mrs. Webster. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. An employee of the Post Office Department?
Mrs. Webster. That is right.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, isn't it a fact that you had a conversation with
Mrs. Baldwin who appeared before us just a moment ago here in this
hearing room and that you visited with Mrs. Baldwin at various times
at your home, and isn't it a fact that you wanted to resign from the
Communist Party and the club because of your husband's activities,
Ben Webster's activities ; that he worked for the Government as a mail
deliverer and that he requested you to drop your membership in the
Communist Party ? Isn't that a fact ?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same grounds.
Mr. KuNziG. Isn't it a fact that you wanted out and you offered to
contribute financially to the party until such a time as you could again
become a member, but at that point you wanted to be let out?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. Isn't it a fact that Mrs. Baldwin made many visits to
your home trying to impress you with the need of remaining in the
party ?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. And isn't it a fact, Mrs. Webster, that you said to Mrs.
Baldwin that — you told her about your sister, Mrs. Darling, and you
said you could see nothing so terribly wrong in dropping membership
in the party, that some of the professional groups had never been open
members, although they contributed and freely affiliated with the
party, and that you said that was the case with your sister, and your
sister's husband. Dr. Darling, a physicist ? Isn't that a fact ?
1828 COMAIUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. Isn't it a fact that you told Mrs. Baldwin that your
sister's husband, Dr. Darling, w^as not an open member of the party
because they thought he could do more being in secret, so to speak, for
the party?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. And isn't it a fact that you wanted the same privilege
for yourself that had been accorded Dr. Darling as a leading profes-
sional member of the party ?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. KuNZiG. Now, Mrs. Webster, Avere you ever a member of the
Wonder's unit, section 3, of the Young Communist League?
Mrs. AVebstek. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. Didn't you attend, on June 12, 1940, a meeting held in
Magnolia Hall, on Magnolia Street, Detroit, of Wonder's unit, sec-
tion 3, of the Young Communist League ?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. Kdnzig. Isn't it a fact that these meetings usually consisted of
short talks, the sale of Young Communist League literature, the sale
of books on the life of Stalin — that stuff was sold at these meetings?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. Do jou recall they discussed at this meeting a summer
school being set up for the training of young Communist leaders dur-
ing the first 2 weeks in August, the cost per student to be $20 for the
2 weeks, part of the cost to be paid by the Wonder's unit sending the
student ?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you attend a banquet to welcome the national
counselor of the national Young Communist League at 8951 12th
Street in Detroit on July 12, 1940 ?
Mrs. Webster. I refuse to answer on the same basis.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, I think it is apparent that the fifth
amendment is going to be the answer on all questions we may ask, so
I therefore, have no further questions to ask of this witness.
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Clardy, do you have any questions ?
Mr. Clardy. No, I have no questions.
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Walter?
Mr. Walter. I believe you worked in the post office up until March
of this year?
Mrs. Webster. It was November of last year.
Mr. Walter. That is all.
Mr. ScHERER. The witness is excused, and discharged from the
subpena.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, I should like for the record to ask that
the document which has been discussed as Webster exhibit No. 1 be
admitted into evidence.
Mr. SciiERER. It may be so received and noted in the record.
(The exhibit, Webster No. 1, marked for identification, was re-
ceived in evidence.)
Mr. SciiERER. Do you have another witness?
Mr. KuNziG. Do you wish to break at this moment, sir?
Mr. SciiERER. Could I talk with you a moment, sir?
(Discussion off the record.)
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1829
Mr. KuNziG. We are ready, then, sir, to call as the next witness in;
this hearing Mrs, Bereniece Baldwin.
Please come forward, Mrs. Baldwin.
Mr. ScHERER. Would you raise your right hand, please?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you shall give to this
subcommittee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you God ?
Mrs. Baldwin. I do.
TESTIMONY OF MRS. BERENIECE "TOBY" BALDWIN
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Baldwin, I note that you are not represented
by counsel. You understand, of course, your absolute right to have
counsel advise you. Do you wish to have counsel, or are you per-
fectly content to testify without counsel ?
Mrs. Baldwin. I am absolutely content to testify without it.
Mr. KuNziG. Would you give your name for the record, please?.
Mrs. Baldwin. Mrs. Bereniece Baldwin.
Mr. KuNziG. Are you sometimes known as Toby Baldwin?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes, I am.
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Baldwin, what is your present address, please?.'
Mrs. Baldwin. Detroit, Midi. Do you want the full address?
Mr. KuNziG. Do you have a house number ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes, 16272 East State Fair Street, Detroit, Mich..
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Baldwin, is it a true fact that you were an
undercover agent within the Communist Party working with and.
cooperating with the FBI ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes ; that is true.
Mr. KuNziG. You have testified previously before this committee ;;
is that correct ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes ; I have.
Mr. KuNziG. On other matters?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. What was the period of time that you worked for the-
FBI as an undercover agent in the Communist Party ?
Mrs. Baldwin. From approximately May of 1943 until February of
J. y »_) ^ ,
Mr. KuNziG. As recently as 1952 ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. And starting in 1943?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. What name did you use in the Communist Party, Mrs..
Baldwin?
Mrs. Baldwin. I used the name Toby Baldwin.
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Baldwin, you heard the last witness testify here^,
Mrs. Webster. You heard her say that she didn't know you. Did
you know her ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes, I did.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you know her well ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Fairly well, yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Did she know you in 1943 and 1944?
Mrs. Baldwin. She certainly did. ;
35663 — 53 7
1830 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. KuNziG. Would you briefly testify and tell the committee how
you got into the party, Mrs. Baldwin?
Mrs. Baldwin. How I got in ?
Mr. KuNziG. Yes. How you got in the party.
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes, after several conferences with agents of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, I joined the party, filled out an ap-
plication for membership following an open rally by Communist
Party leaders.
Mr. KuNziG. What offices have you held in the Communist Party?
Mrs. Baldwin. Membership and dues secretary for various sections.
I have worked at the office relieving the receptionist and the stenogra-
pher there.
I became membership and dues secretary for the State of Michigan,
district 7, in 1947 and 1948. There were various other posts, but I
believe that covers it.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, as membership secretary of the Communist
Party, what responsibilities did you have there in the State of
Michigan ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Primarily of taking of the reports that were handed
in to me on the status of each individual, tabulating them for the
NeAV York office. It was also issuing of membership cards for 1948
and the registration began in the fall of 1947.
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Baldwin, did you know during that early period
of your activity in the Communist Party an individual by the name of
Barbara Springer ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes ; I did.
Mr. KuNziG. Now known as Barbara Springer Darling, or Mrs.
Darling, the wife of Professor Darling, who testified here this morn-
ing or yesterday. You weren't here yesterday, Mrs. Baldwin, but Mrs.
Darling also testified yesterday before this committee.
How did you first become acquainted with Barbara Springer to the
best of your recollection?
Mrs. Baldwin. I heard her name in party circles in the latter part
of 1943, and the first part of 1944, but I actually saw her in person at
a Michigan State conference, which was held in 1944.
Mr. ScHERER. You say "Michigan State conference." Do you mean
a Michigan State conference of the Communist Party ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. Kunzig. Was this the convention of the Communist Party
which dissolved the Communist Party and created the Communist
Political Association?
Mrs. Baldwin. It was a meeting called for that purpose for the
discussion of the delegates.
Mr. KuNziG. Had the national convention of the Communist Party
already adopted the program to change to the Communist Political
Association and had the convention ratified the action of the national,
or was that the convention for the purpose of obtaining approval in
the State of Michigan to adopt this new organizational structure
known as Communist Political Association ?
Mrs. Baldwin. That was for the establishment of it after the na-
tional committee had already made the decision.
Mr. KuNziG. So that at the time this convention took place, it was
called by the Communist Party of tlie United States, rather than the
Communist Political Association?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1831
Mrs. Baldwin. That is true.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, you had this acquaintanceship with Barbara
Springer. How long a period did you know her? Did she stay
around Detroit for awhile, or did she leave ?
Mrs. BxVLDWiN. She left shortly after I appeared there, and we
were told — members of the party were told that she had gone west-
ward with her husband.
Mr, KuNziG. Did you have any knowledge whether her husband
was a physicist ?
Mrs. Baldwin. I had been told he was a physicist.
Mr. Knuzig. What period of time was this i
Mrs. Baldwin. 1944.
Mr. KuNziG. 1944?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. I want to make sure our dates are correct because we
had some testimony yesterday that the two were married in 1946. Did
you know them in 1944? You knew Mrs. Darling in 1944?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. And she left, then, to go with her husband the latter
part, later, after that period out west somewhere, according to your
knowledge, is that right?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, yon also testified that you know or knew Mrs.
Darling's sister, Flora Webster, who you stood before this morning,
is that correct?
Mrs. Baldwin. That is correct.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, would you tell the committee everything you
know with regard to Flora Webster's attempting to get out of the
party? Would you explain in detail to the members of the com-
mittee, please?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes. I should begin with the beginning of when
Flora Webster was transferred into my cell. It was then called
the Frederick Douglass Community Club and was broken down into
smaller groups. They became a member of the same unit as I, which
was called the 14th Congressional Club of the Communist Party. It
was during this period that we had to make arrangements for the
election of officers for this new club or cell, I should say, and it was
the chairman, Stanley Dembski, and myself who made periodic visits
to Flora Webster's home to indoctrinate her into the activities of what
this club would do.
It was during this period that she voiced her disapproval of her
husband — Ben Webster's thoughts that she should drop out of the
party because of security for him. We made several trips there to
convince her of the necessity of remaining in this cell.
Mr. Clardt. Made several trips where ?
Mrs. Baldwin. To her home.
Mr. Clardt. Proceed.
Mrs. Baldwin. Well, that, I believe, answers your question.
Mr. KuNziG. Did you have any other conversations with Mrs.
Webster?
IVIrs. Baldwin. We had many conversations with her during this
period. It was during this time that she told me she couldn't under-
stand why she couldn't be granted the same privileges of not being
an open party member, the same as her sister's husband, Dr. Darling,
1832 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
as she called him. She said he was doing more good for the party not
being an open member and she felt she could do the same thing.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, would you explain to the committee from your
personal knowledge, from your work with the cards and the records
of the Communist Party and the part to which you belonged, would
you explain how professional people such as teachers and professors
were handled in your records ?
Mrs. Baldwin. They were the hidden or secret part of the Com-
munist Party. The names were usually not known unless you happen
to know the individuals. I did come in contact with quite a few of
them through their own word of mouth, not through other party
members. When they would say they belonged to a certain cell, this
was information — I wouldn't say underground activities at that time,
but they were working towards the Communist goal without being
open party members. They would be handed in to me on lists such
as so many clubs, such a professional club, or teachers' club. Many
of such lists were handed to me.
They would come into contact with a leader of that situation, and
that was later repudiated, that I was not to contact them.
Mr. KuNziG. The teachers and professors were something apart,
something very important, and something to be handled very, very
specially ; is that right ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes; I was once told by the party leader that
their
Mr. KuNziG. Who?
Mrs. Baldwin. Helen Allison.
Mr, KuNziG. Is that Helen Allison Winter ?
Mrs, Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Is that the wife of Mr. Winter, who was convicted in
the leading Communist trial ?
Mrs. Baldwin. That is true. I was once told that their type of
work, it would require not being an open party member.
Mr. KuNziG. You mean the work of the professors and teachers
would require their not being open party members?
Mrs. Baldwin. That is right. They could not be known as
Communists.
Mr. KuNziG. This also applied to other leading professional people,
such as lawyers and people of that nature?
Mrs. Baldwin. All of our hidden party, which we had quite a few
of, it was called the professional group, but within that professional
group were many cells such as the professional people in their own
right. Lawyers would have a group, teachers would have a group, even
civil-service workers had a group, college students had a group within
various colleges, Michigan State, Lansing, and so forth. The uni-
versity had their own group.
Mr. KuNziG. And these facts are known to you of your personal
knowledge from your experience as being an undercover agent in the
Communist Party ?
Mrs. Bai.dwin. That is right.
Mr. Walit.r. Wliat is the maximum number of members in these
professional groups during the period that you were in the party?
Mrs, Baldwin. There would be a variance on that, sir, because in
1948 when we had a tightening up, were taking security measures, they
took those certain cells, put in on a certain area, and combined it
COMIMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1833
together, but I would say as an overall professional figure, that would
be 400 to 500 in 1947.
Mr. Walter. In 1947, there were a maximum of 500 ?
Mrs. Baldwin. A rough figure. There were many not even entered
on the lists.
Mr. Walter. Of that number, how many were in the teaching
profession ?
Mrs. Baldwin. I would safely say between 200 and 250.
Mr. Clardt. But that number was broken down into small cells?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. Clardy. You are giving us the overall number?
Mrs. Baldwin. The overall number.
Mr. KuNZiG. Mrs. Baldwin, of what part or what group or what
club were you a member ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Well, do you mean towards the last, or throughout?
Mr. KuNziG. Let's start at the beginning, in 1943.
Mrs. Baldwin. I was a member of section 3, branch 157, and that
was in 1943.
In the fall of 1943, I was transferred to a newly organized section
of the Communist Party for the east side residents and that was called
the Frederick Douglass Community Club.
The first part of 1944, there was a breakdown of that club, which
had around 700 members, and they broke it down to a territorial basis,
and I became a member, was transferred as dues secretary to what
was known as the 14th Congressional Club.
Mr. KuNziG. The 14th Congressional Club?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. Kunzig. Was Flora Webster transferred in that 14th Con-
gressional Club when you were?
Mrs. Baldw^in. She was not transferred from the same club that I
was, she had not been a member of the same club of which I had been
a member, but she was transferred in there from the Mid-Town Club.
Mr. Kunzig. Into the 14th Congressional Club ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. Kunzig. So you know of your own knowledge that Flora Web-
ster was a member of the 14th Congressional Club of the Connnunist
Party ?
Mrs. Baldwin. I certainly do.
Mr. Kunzig. You say you sat in meetings with her?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. Walter. What is the maximum number of members of the
Communist Party in the State of Michigan?
Mrs. Baldwin. At present?
Mr. Walter. No. At any time.
Mrs. Baldwin. Between 3,000 and 3,700. That was a rough figure.
Recruits were coming in throughout the year.
Mr. Walter. ^Ylien was that?
Mrs. Baldwin. That would be in the fall of 1947.
Mr. Walter. Fall of 1947. How many are there now ?
Mrs. Baldwin. I wouldn't knoAv. They have gone underground.
Mr. Walter. How many were there
Mrs. Baldwin. I couldn't tell you because I transferred to another
branch.
1834 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Mr. Walter. Did the number increase or decrease ?
Mrs. Baldwin. It would have decreased.
Mr. Walter. What do you attribute the decrease to?
Mrs. Baldwin. ^Yel\, when I say it decreased, I mean that as an
overall figure, because it would be hard to keep track of them. Many
of them were dropping out of the party because of fear and many of
them just didn't believe in the party, but the majority didn't want to
be known as Communist Party members.
Mr. Walter. Dropping out because of fear?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. Walter. Fear from what?
Mrs. Baldwin. Fear from different legislation that was being
passed.
Mr. Clardt. Fear of exposure?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. Walter. Is it that as much as it is an appreciation that they
are part and parcel of an international conspiracy to overthrow our
form of government ? Isn't that it ?
Mrs. Baldwin. For the members, I would like to answer that this
way. For the members who have participated in the educational
phases of the Communist Party and know what it stands for, they
definitely know it is a conspiracy.
Mr. Clardy. They know full well what it is about, then, don't they,
the elite?
Mrs. Baldwin. They certainly should.
Mr. KuNziG. Mrs. Baldwin, you were membership secretary of the
group, were you not?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. Of the 14th Congressional Club ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes.
Mr. KuNziG. So you, even more than anyone else, would know who
were members better than anyone else?
Mrs. Baldwin. I accepted their dues.
Mr. KuNziG. You accepted their dues?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes, I did.
Mr. KuNZiG. That would seem to make it pretty clear.
Now, I would like to ask you this question, if I may. Did you
attend the 1944 convention of the Communist Party ?
Mrs. Baldwin. I did.
Mr. KuNziG. Where was it held ?
Mrs. Baldwin. That was held at the Jericho Temple, in Detroit,
Mich.
Mr. Clardy. Wliat was the location again?
Mrs. Baldwin. On Joy Road, 2705 Joy Road, Detroit, Mich.
Mr. Kunzig. At that 1944 convention of the Communist Party, in
which you met Barbara Springer Darling, could she have been a
participant in that convention without being a member of the Com-
munist Party ?
Mrs. Baldwin. No, she couldn't have.
Mr. Kttnztg. You did meet her there ?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes, I did meet her there.
Mr. Kunzig. Did vou check her credentials?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA 1835
Mrs. Baldwin. I worked on the credentials committee, but I did
not handle names.
Mr. Kttnzig. I see. But you definitely saw Barbara Springer
Darling there?
Mrs. Baldwin. She gave a report ; yes.
Mr. KuNziG. She did ? What report did she ^ive ?
Mrs. Baldwin. That was a resolution and review ; committee report.
Mr. KuNziG. "Wliat was the review committee?
Mrs. Baldwin. Political activities of the party, and hers dealt
tvith the phase of the Teheran Conference.
Mr. KuNziG. She gave that report personally?
Mrs. Baldwin. Yes, it was my first convention of the Communist
Party, and I shan't forget.
Mr. KuNziG. Nobody could actually give an important report such
as that to the Communist convention without herself being a Com-
munist, could she?
Mrs. Baldwin. We elected delegates from our various cells. We
had to be elected delegates.
JMr. KuNziG. Do you happen to know from what cell Mrs. Darling
came ?
Mrs. Baldwin. No, I know it was the west side, but I did not know
what cell.
Mr. KuNziG. Now, making that report as she did, would she have
been chairman of the review committee to give that report?
Mrs. Baldwin. Not necessarily State chairman. She would have
been. I don't remember exactly what she was.
Mr. Clardy. Mr. Counsel, what year was this ?
Mr. KuNziG. I will ask the witness.
What year was this?
Mrs. Baldwin. In the spring of 1944.
Mr. KuNziG. So that you positively identified Mrs. Darling as a
member of the Communist Party and Mrs. Webster as a member of
the Communist Party, is that correct?
Mrs. Baldwin. I do.
Mr. KuNziG. I have no further questions to ask, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. ScHEEER. Mr. Clardy, do you have any questions?
Mr. Clardy. No, I think counsel has done a competent job. I have
no further questions.
Mr. ScHERER. Mr. Walter?
Mr. Walter. No questions.
Mr. ScHERER. The witness is excused and discharged from her sub-
pena. Thank you very much.
Mr. KuNziG. Mr. Chairman, I have no further witnesses to bring^
before this committee.
Mr. Clardy. On this matter?
^Ir. KuNziG. On this matter at this time.
Mr. Scherer. This concludes the hearings here in Columbus.
The committee wishes to thank the people in this community wha
have contributed so much to the hearings, the press, the television, and
particularly my good friend Sidney Isaacs, counsel and director of the
Ohio Commission on Un-American Activities, who handled many of
the details and arrangements for this hearing, and also Mr. Samuel
1836 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE CuLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Devine, the chairman of the Ohio Commission of Un-American
Activities, which is doing such a splendid job in this State.
I want to thank the sergeant-at-arms, Mr. Claude Woodward, for
his efficient service, and the four members of the Ohio State Highway
Patrol, who assisted him.
I desire also to thank Mr. Scatterly, the superintendent of this
■building who cooperated so splendidly with the committee.
The committee is now adjourned.
(Whereupon the meeting adjourned at 12: 30 p. m.)
APPENDIX
(By order of the committee, the following is incorporated into the
record of these hearings :)
July 2, 1953.
Memorandum in be Dakling Hearing at Columbus, Ohio
The Darling hearings are hereby reopened for the purpose of inserting in the.
record documentary evidence and a statement with respect thereto. This docu-
ment was not known to exist at the time of the Columbus hearings on June 17 and
18, 1953.
It will be recalled that Barbara Ann Darling's previous name was Barbara
Ann Springer. At the hearings in Columbus, she and her sister, Florence Web-
ster, refused to answer numerous questions with reference to their membership in
the Communist Party and their activities in connection therewith. Both parties
refused to answer said questions because to do so might tend to incriminate them
or at least so they contended.
At the Columbus hearing, one Bereniece Baldwin, a former undercover agent
for the FBI, who became a member of the Communist Party at the request of
the FBI, identified both Barbara Ann Darling and Florence Webster, her sister,
as members of the Communist Party.
It is significant to note that in spite of these positive identifications by Bereniece
Baldwin and the refusal of the parties to either deny or aflSrm membership in
the Communist Party when they had the opportunity to do so, reports have come
to the committee that there are still a number of persons at Ohio State and else-
where who contend that Mrs. Baldwin, the FBI agent, was not telling the truth
and was acting in the role of a typical informer. Of course, these persons who
make such contentions in the face of such overwhelming evidence can be classified
with those individuals who still claim that Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, and so
forth, are innocent.
There has come into the possession of the committee, since the Columbus
hearing, documentary proof which completely corroborates the testimony of
Bereniece Baldwin. The manner in which this documentary evidence was dis-
covered, in and of itself, helps to demonstrate the conclusiveness of the evidence
developed in the Darling matter.
The documentary evidence, hereby made a part of the record, markefl "Darling
Exhibit No. 9," is a letter to Dr. Bella Dodd, signed by 20 persons, including
Barbai'a A. Springer. This letter reads as follows : ^
"Dear Betxa Dodd : We, the Michigan comrades, delegates to this historic
national 1944 convention, warmly welcome you into our direct work and leader-
ship and with all comradely wishes for the success of your great work."
Dr. Bella Dodd v.as called to testify at Columbus on matters generally relating
to Communist infiltration into the field of education. As far as Dr. Dodd was
concerned when she arrived at Columbus, Ohio, she did not know nor had she had
any contact with the Darlings. However, during the Columbus hearing, she
learned that Mrs. Darling's former name was Barbara Ann Springer. As Dr.
Dodd flew back to New York, that name kept presenting itself to her mind. On
arrival in New York, she cheeked through he old files and found Mrs. Darling's
letter.
It will be recalled that Bereniece Baldwin testified at the Columbus hearing that
she met Barbara Ann Springer Darling and her sister, Florence Webster, at the
1944 national convention of the Communist Party in Michigan, and that both were
delegates. It should be further noted that Bereniece Baldwin testified that only
delegates of the Communist Party were permitted to attend such conventions,
that Barbara Ann Springer Darling attended said convention as a delegate and, as
chairman of a committee, rendered a report on the political activities of the
party.
Gordon H. Scherek,
Sec p. 18.SS fcT photographic reproduction of document.
1837
1838 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
Darling Exhibit No. 9
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INDEX
INDIVIDUALS
Page
Allison, Helen (Mrs. Winter) 1832
Amter, Israel 1745
Anderson, James 1838
Baldwin, Bereniece "Tob.y"__ 1739, 1825, 1827, 1828, 1829-1835 (testimony), 1837
Beiswenger, A 1838
Bevis, Howard 1778, 1800-1802
Boas, Franz 17G4
Boyd, Gerald 1838
Braunlich, Art 1838
Browder, Earl 1746
Bush, Robert H 1804, 1805. 1807-1810. 1815, 1820-1822
Chapman, Mr 1782
Dallin, Dave 1772
Darling, Barbara Ann (see cZso Barbara Ann Springer) 1783-1795 (testimony),
1796, 1830, 1831, 1834, 1835, 1837
Darling, Byron Thorwell 1778-1782,
1786, 1787, 1795-1828 (testimony) , 1827, 1828, 1831
Dembski, Stanley 1831
Devine, Samuel 1739, 1799, 1835, 1836
Dodd. Bella V 1741-1777 (testimony), 1837. 1838
Dombrowski, Ruth 1790, 1791
Dombrowski, Thomas F. X 1789, 1790
Einstein, Albert 1764, 1801, 1817
Emmons, Lloyd C 1781, 1782
Fagan, Peter 1815
Fagan, Sarah 1815
Finklestein, Moe 1762, 1764
Fletcher, William 1838
Forer, Joseph 1779, 1783-1795, 1823-182S
Foster, William Z 17G1
Frank, Richard 1775
Gainor. Charles 1806-1808, 1810, 1815, 1820, 1822, 1828
Ganley, Nat 1S88
Garrett, Mr. {see also E. R. Gewirts) 1820
Gauss, Christian 1764
Gerson, Simon 1743, 1744
Gewirts, Edward Robert (Garrett) 1810-1812, 1815, 1820
Gold, Ben 1786
Grecor, Pressley 1838
Green, Gil 1743, 1745, 174r
Gregurek, Frank 1812, 1813, 1816, 1820, 1821
Gregurek, Goldie 1812,1813, 1820, 1821
Harris, James C 1778, 1779, 1780, 1800
Higdon, Hoke 1838
Hiss, Alger 18.37
Hoover, J. Edgar 1741, 1761
Hurst, Willie 1838
Isaacs, Sidney 1739, 1799, 1835
Kohl, Adeline 1838
Kruzlo, Leo J 1838
Lautner, Johnny 1760
Lawrence, David — 1817
Lockner. Anna May 1787
1839
1840 INDEX
Page
Luxon, Norval Neil 1777-1780 (testimony)
Maisenburg, Riflta 1838
Martin, William 1813
Matles, Eben 1785
Matles, James 1785, 1786
Maxwell, Matilda 1838
McKie, Bill 1838
Miller, Steve (alias for J. Peters) 1753
Needleman, Isadore 1814
Neilsen, H. H 1782
Norman, Bill 1748
O'Hair, Richard F 1793
Peters, J. (alias Steve Miller) 1752,1753
Philbrick, Herbert 1776
Rieger, Frank 1807
Rieger, Goldie 1807
Ross, Charlotte 1838
Scatterly, Mr 1836
Shapiro, Harold 1786
Silverman. Harriett 1746
Simons, Edward 1813, 1814, 1823
Smith, Gerald 1809
Sova, John 1821
Spencer, Tom 1838
Springer, Barbara Ann {see also Barbara Ann Darling) 1787,
1830, 1831, 1837, 1838
Svvanstrom, Monsignor 1763
Taft, Lois (Mrs. Arthur Wright) 1812
Tann, A. J 1792
Toohey, Pat 1838
Trachtenberg, Alexander 1771
Van Dusen, L. J 1787
Van Dnsen, Mabel 1787
Webster, Flora 1823-1828 (testimony), 1831, 1833, 1837
Webster, Williard Parker (Ben) 1824,1827
White, David 1838
Williams. Prof. Dudley 1781,1782
Williams. Fred 1838
Winter, Helen Allison 1832
Winter, Mr 1832
Woodward, Claude 1739, 1799, 1836
Wright, Arthur 1811, 1812, 1819, 1820, 1823
Wright. Lois (formerly Lois Taft) 1812,1820,1823
ORGANIZATIONS
American Association of University Professors 1757
American Committee .for Democracy and Intellectual Freedom 1762
American Federation of Labor 1742, 1745, 1753, 1755, 1767
American Federation of Labor, New York 1744
American Federation of Teachers 1742, 1753, 1755, 1767
American Labor Party 1767
American League Against War and Fascism 1752
Anti-Fascist Literature Committee _1746
Central Trades and Labor Council 1744, 1755
Columbia University 1742
Congress of Industrial Organizations 1755, 1758, 1763, 1767, 1785, 1786, 1824
Federal Bureau of Investigation 1837
Harvard University 1804, 1805, 1809, 1821
Hunter College 1742, 1747, 1753, 1776
International Fur and Leather Workers' Union of America 1786, 1788, 1824
Kansas State Teachers College 1784
Mexico Citv College , 1784
Michigan State College 1781, 1782, 1796, 1815, 1816, 1819
National Federation of Labor 1755
New York City College 1753
INDEX 1841
Fage
New York Federation of Teachers 1742
New York State Federation of Labor 1744, 1755
New York Teacher's Union 1742, 1753-1755, 1763, 1775, 177G
New York University 1742
Ohio State University 1777-1784.
1788-1791, 1796, 1797, 1799-1801, 1803
Pennsylvania State College 1796
Progressive Party 1767
University of Connecticut 1774
University of Illinois 1796
University of Michigan State 1796, 1802, 1805-1811
University of Pittsburgh 1806, 1821
University of Virginia 1775
University of Wisconsin 1784, 1788, 1789, 1796
United Automobile Workers, CIO , 1824
United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America 1785, 1786, 1788
Yale University 1796, 1802
PUBLICATIONS
The Communist 1774, 1775
Daily Worker 1751, 1756
Glos Ludowy 1789, 1790
Lansing State Journal 1813
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 9999 05445 4945
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